Within the academic literature pertaining to retail location analysis, the prominent focus over the last years has been on mathematical models capable of directly delineating the trade area of a retail facility and estimating the outlet's potential sales volume. This concentration on modeling represents an attempt to add some structure to the site selection process and to eliminate some of the problems associated with the highly subjective and intuitive alternative methods (such as Applebaum's analog approach), which tend to rely extremely heavily on past learning experiences and the analyst's decision making ability. However, even though these modeling approaches add some needed structure and objectiveness to the process, they have failed to reach any level of acceptance in the business world. One of the major purposes of this study is to determine the underlying reasons for this lack of adoption. To gain an understanding of the problem a number of planners, developers, consultants and store merchants were interviewed in order to ascertain the methods and processes involved. Aside from basic methodologies, the questionnaire also concentrated on a wide variety of locational considerations not normally dealt with in the academic literature, such as corporate strategies. This survey revealed a number of problems inherent in the application of these highly structured mathematical models. Most of the problems stemmed from the limited perspective taken. For example, only the demand for retail facilities are considered in the models, all supply considerations are neglected. Corporate strategies, past learning experiences and most financial implications are ignored. Furthermore, these approaches tend to exclude a number of important factors that are suspected to have a significant impact on determining consumer patronage patterns. Some of the more important variables identified were: tenant mix, the location of the tenants within the shopping center, accessibility, an array of site quality factors, and population characteristics. Although there is a need for some structure to be added to those methods used in practice, it is apparent the models are too inflexible and limited for the type of situation for which they are intended. The dynamic nature of the developmental process requires more fluidity in the analytical approaches used, since each situation presents such a unique set of circumstances. Unless the entire design of the models are changed in a dramatic way, they are never likely to be used in the business world. This, however, is not liable to happen in the immediate future since the direction that most of the academic research seems to be taking is towards making minor adaptations to model forms that are impractical by their general design and nature. Therefore, until research takes on a new direction, it is not likely that any practical advances will be made. In essence, the need for some new directions in academic research, the urgency for a closer association between the theorists and those in business, and the necessity for more holistic approaches are among the more important inferences made within this thesis. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is devoted to retail in Kazakhstan. Main objective of this work is to make an overview of retail market in republic of Kazakhstan and analyze its specifics, history and current situation. Also, thesis includes description of shopping centers market in Kazakhstan and prediction of future trends in retail in context of entrance into Custom Union with Russia and Belorussia.

The aim of my graduation thesis is the analysis of retail network in Tábor from the perspective of retail chains. Information base consists of professional literature, web sites, field research, interviews with managers of stores and completed questionnaires.

Syfte – Studiens syfte är “Studera dagens köpkanaler för att möta nya trender inom detaljhandeln.”. För att besvara denna studies syfte har tre frågeställningar formulerats:  1.       Hur är dagens köpbeteende idag? 2.       Vilka är dagens köpkanaler inom klädhandeln?  3.       Vilken typ av köpbeteende passar dagens köpkanaler?   Metod – För att besvara studiens syfte genomfördes en litteraturstudie samt intervjuer. Litteraturstudien genomfördes för att analysera och samla tidigare kända empiriska studier och forskningsöversikter vilket berör det aktuella forskningsområdet. Fem stycken intervjuer genomfördes med personer inom olika områden för att skapa en bred förståelse kring ämnet. Insamlad data har systematiskt analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analys. Teorier kring studiens tre frågeställningar har utvecklats längs studiens gång.   Resultat – Studien har identifierat tre köpbeteende: Showrooming, webrooming och köp via direkt kanal. Fyra köpkanaler har identifierats som dagens köpkanaler inom klädhandeln: Brick-and-mortar, direktkanal, e-tailer och dubbel kanal. Studien har identifierat att köpbeteendet showrooming överensstämmer med Brick-and-mortar i formatet showroom samt direktkanal eller e-tailer. Webrooming överensstämmer med direktkanal, e-tailer följt av brick-and-mortar. Köpbeteendet direktkanal, uppstår med köpkanalerna brick-and-mortar, e-tailer och direktkanal. Trenden är att detaljhandlare inom klädhandeln övergår till en sömlös samverkan mellan olika kanaler.   Implikationer – Studien identifierar relationer mellan köpbeteende och köpkanaler vilket kan öka förståelsen för olika aktörer inom klädhandeln. Trender vilket har identifierats i studien kan hjälpa aktörer inom klädhandeln att förstå trender av köpbeteende. Klädhandeln kan dra fördel av detta. Studien tillför förståelse på vilket sätt konsumenter påverkar utvecklingen av köpkanaler genom den bekräftande rollen konsumenter har vid köp. Vidare forskning inom området kan vara att göra en kvantitativt studie för att fånga trendernas styrka och därmed dess påverkan på marknaden i stort.   Begränsningar – Studien är begränsad till intervjuer vilket endast utförts med människor i Sverige. För att få en bredare förståelse och mer allmän gällande studie kan intervjuer över hela världen genomföras. Studien är begränsad till fem intervjuer, vilket kan utökas till fler intervjuer och intervjuer av människor i fler branscher med unik relation till studiens ämne. / Purpose – The purpose of the study is “Study the current buying channels to meet coming trends within retailing” Three questions have been formulated to answer the purpose of this study.  1.       What are the current buying behaviours today?  2.       What is today’s buying channels within the clothing retail market? 3.       What type of buying behaviour corresponds to today's buying channels?  Method – To answer the purpose of the study, a literature study and interviews were conducted. The literature study was conducted to analyse and gather information from previously known empirical studies, research overviews which relate to the relevant research area. Five interviews were conducted with experts with different perspective of clothing retail market, to create a broader understanding of the topic. The collected data has been systematically analysed using thematic analysis. Theories surrounding the study's three research questions have been developed along the course of the study.   Findings – The study have identified the major buying behaviours and buying channels in society given the study's delimitations. The major buying behaviours which have been identified are Showrooming, webrooming and purchases made through single channel. Identified buying channels are brick-and-mortar, direct channel, e-tailer and dual channel. Channel strategies used are Omnichannel, Multi-channel and cross-channel. Trends which may continue are the continued adaptation and integration of omnichannel and cross-channel systems among retail companies. Additional trend of importance is the continued work from retail firms with seamless interaction between multiple channels. Information retrieval will be done more online, and customers are looking for an experience when they visit a store, akin to showrooms. Omnichannel integration where the customer experiences a seamless experience between the different channels have become crucial. Clothing companies focus on the experience at the store and choose to invest in fewer stores of higher quality.   Implications – The study identifies relations within buying behaviours and buying channels which may gain create a deeper understanding within the retail market. Trends which have been identified may aid retail firms understanding for consumer different behaviour. The study contributes with an understanding how consumers effect the development of buying channels, through their confirmatory role. Further research in this area can be to conduct a quantitative study to catch the trend, the strength and therefore its impact on the overall market.   Limitations – The study is limited to interviews conducted only with people located in Sweden. To gain a broader understanding, interviews can be conducted all over the world. The study is limited to five interviews. Given the limitation, more interviews of people in additional sectors may be of interest for further research.

Butiksdöden och Covid-19 har båda ändrat förutsättningarna för hur detaljhandelsföretag behöver tänka kring sina fysiska butiker för att hålla sig konkurrenskraftiga. Det har börjat ske att konsumenter köper allt mer online och med den globala epidemin så innebär det att strategierna som fungerade tidigare möjligen inte längre gör det. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken påverkan som externa händelser har på hur detaljhandelsföretag arbetar med sina försäljningskanaler. Studien gjordes genom att intervjua fem olika butiks/varuhuschefer inom stora detaljhandelsföretag som är verksamma i Sverige. Studien använder sig av en kvalitativ metod där semistrukturerade intervjuer användas för att samla in empirin. Teorierna som används inom studien delades in i två spår: teorier kring olika flerkanalsstrategier och konsumentbeteende. Resultatet som genererades av studien var att detaljhandelsföretagen inte har kommit fram med helt nya arbetsmetoder och strategier som åtgärd mot covid-19, utan de har istället förbättrat och utvecklat redan befintliga arbetsmetoder och strategier. Detta skiljer sig från påverkan av butiksdöden där dessa företag behövt öppna nya verksamheter och komma fram med nya strategier i samband med användningen av internet. Det här visar även på att företagen inte kan behålla sina vanliga strategier när det förekommer problem utanför deras kontroll. Resultaten visade också att det var Covid-19 som var den händelse som hade störst påverkan angående hur företagen arbetar. / The retail apocalypse and Covid-19 have both changed the landscape of retail businesses and the way these companies have to think about their physical stores. More and more customers are choosing to buy online and Covid-19 has seemed to increase this behavior even further meaning that the old strategies may no longer work. The purpose of this study was to examine what impact external events have on how retail businesses work on their sales channels. This was achieved by interviewing five different store managers in the retail business active in Sweden. The study used a qualitative method where semi structured interviews were used to collect data. The theories used were divided in two categories: theories regarding multi-channel strategies and theories regarding consumer behavior. The results that the study generated were that the retail businesses did not create new methods and strategies as a measure against Covid-19, they had instead improved and developed the already existing methods and strategies. This is in contrast to the effect of the retail apocalypse where these companies have had to open new operations and had to come up with new strategies in conjunction with the usage of the internet. This also shows that these businesses can not retain their regular strategies when faced with problems outside their own control. The results showed that Covid-19 was the event that had the biggest impact on how the companies operated.

The objective of the thesis “Critical Analysis of the new retail and estimation of its future development” is to present a close overview about retail real estate issue in Czech Republic. First chapters are focused on theoretical issues of the retail. The practical part is focused on space-time analysis of market characteristics in the Czech Republic, which provides theoretical insights and diffusion process of expansion of shopping centers. The outcome of this paper is an estimation of the future development of the new retail from the optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic views of the market characteristics, and a definition of the competitive parameters of the retail development.

Within the retail sector, two sections have grown drastically with the help of each other in the past decade. Those two sections include online retail and second-hand retail. Online retail has grown remarkably due to the implementation of online atmospherics. This phenomenon led to the purpose of this study: to observe the online atmospherics present in online second-hand retail. To achieve this purpose, the literature related to online retail, target audience, motivations of consumers, reselling, and online second-hand apps was explored. For this study, five online second-hand retail sites were chosen. Eighteen of the most common online atmospherics were observed to be present, not present, or unable to determine in these online second-hand retail sites. Results showed notable findings including the importance of white space. Based upon the results of this study, managerial implications are offered.

Newspaper advertising and retail pricing practices for turkeys were ascertained and gross retail margins established for three Utah markets, 1955 to 1966, and for 12 other selected U. S. markets, 1965 and 1966. Turkey was extensively used as an advertised special item, particularly in holiday seasons. Food retailing organizations advertised turkey at low prices and margins at Thanksgiving and Christmas when consumer demand for turkey is traditionally strong. Prior to these holidays, food retailing organizations in a market simultaneously advertised turkey at identical prices and with little product differentiation thus limiting the effectiveness of turkey as an advertised item to gain competitive advantage for a food retailer.

Background: In today's dynamic business environment, organizations face high pressure for change and adaptation. It is generally perceived that change is inevitable and many believe that change is an ongoing and never-ending process. The retail industry is a highly competitive sector, and thus it becomes paramount for organizations to successfully manage change. The subject of change management has been present for a long period, however, a remarkably low amount of research has been focused on change management for retail store managers. Therefore, this study aims to examine retail store managers' communication during change processes. Purpose: This study’s purpose is to create a comprehensive understanding of retail store managers’ communication during change processes. Moreover, to identify which elements should be prioritized by retail store managers communicating during change. Method: To achieve the purpose of this thesis, a qualitative interview study was conducted, and it consisted of seven semi-structured interviews with retail store managers. The thesis was guided by an inductive approach, and a thematic analysis of the empirical findings was utilized. Conclusion: This study found that retail store managers' communicational structure was similar as it was based on the same elements, adaptability, selectivity, multiple channels, and prioritization. The structure enabled retail store managers to ensure that the communication was clear and open, thus minimizing employee stress and uncertainty. Continuing, the results indicated that retail store managers should prioritize certain communicational elements, for instance, clarity, openness, and long-run perspective.

Franchise contracts are often standard form contracts drafted by the franchisor and presented on a "take it or leave it" basis. Although these typically one-sided contracts may be necessary to prevent franchisees from harming the franchisor's brand name, in practice, the franchisors' contractual power can lead to franchisor-opportunism, in particular through wrongful terminations and nonrenewal, onerous transfer restrictions, and so on. Accordingly, federal government and some state legislatures have enacted specific franchise laws in order to balance potential power imbalance and to protect franchisees from opportunism. However, these laws have been criticized for being harmful to the franchising sector as they restrict franchisors' termination power, and thus, encourage franchisee-opportunism. As current laws appear to be failing to provide a fair solution for both parties, this dissertation offers an alternative theory drawn from the European concept of goodwill recoupment. Under the proposed approach, once a franchise comes to an end, the franchisee would be entitled to a payment for its goodwill. The payment does not depend on the franchisor's wrongdoing; if and to the extent that a franchisee has positive local goodwill, the transfer of this value to the franchisor upon cessation justifies the payment. This payment would allow the franchisee to receive a fair return for its intangible investment without constraining the franchisor's monitoring power and flexibility. The proposed approach is a better-suited solution against opportunism than those currently used in the U.S. legal system. This approach would ultimately reduce both franchisee and franchisor opportunism, and incentivize investment and cooperation. / Temple University. James E. Beasley School of Law / Law