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The context of this study is Bangladesh`s food retailing sector. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) and customer retention. Since Independence in 1971, Bangladesh has made solid progress and made substantial improvements in its economy, with GDP growth of 5-6% consistently over the past decade. With the real economic growth coupled with rapid urbanisation, the country has witnessed a new form of organised retailing that started to emerge in early 2000. This organised retail format is undergoing a period of unprecedented expansion, something that is driving additional demand and as well as creating opportunities for further enterprise. There are clear signs of substantial and potential growth in future. The economic growth coupled with the growth of urbanisation, changes in demographic factors, increases in employment and income levels has had a profound influence on consumers shopping behaviour and hence, Customer Relationship Marketing. The core aim of Relationship Marketing is to build a long lasting mutually bonded relationships with customers and various other important stakeholders. The concept has attracted considerable attention among scholars in recent decades and has appeared in service marketing literature as a new marketing paradigm. The concept is considered to be critical to the success of any organisation as it has been an accepted phenomenon that maintains that existing customers are far easier to retain than is the process of acquiring new customers. In order to stay in business and cope with the challenging business dynamism, organisations are continuously searching for reliable and serviceable strategies to be employed in order to increase customer retention. However, there is a lack of an accepted level of consensus among researchers on the core antecedents of relationship marketing that can be used to achieve the above aims, especially while the concept is new in the context of organised retailing sectors in Bangladesh. In response, this thesis developed a conceptual framework of customer retention strategy to conduct an empirical investigation in one holistic model: (i) the relationships between relationship quality and customer retention; (ii) how bonds influences the relationship quality? As well as (iii) the effect of CRM on customer loyalty and retention. The model incorporates bonds, service quality and components of relational quality (Trust, commitment and satisfaction) into one relationship model to show the relationship between these five constructs and customer loyalty and finally the independent variable of customer retention. The model establishes eleven hypotheses to understand the relationships between various constructs. Furthermore, in order to understand the intensity of grocery food consumers loyalty, Oliver`s Four Stages loyalty model was used. A sample of 202 grocery food retail customers were selected in a random sample from four selected superstores located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Data were collected via mail questionnaires. The questionnaires content validity was tested by conducting a pre-test of 50 households before conducting the final survey. The results support hypothesized relationships built on the model. Correlation analysis indicates that all the coefficient correlate significantly except commitment that shows the least strengths of the correlation coefficient. Nevertheless, correlations were statistically significant. Therefore, all eleven hypotheses are confirmed to some degree. The findings indicate that service quality, trust, bond and customer satisfactions are vital for creating positive customer loyalty which in turn creates customer retention. In regards to the intensity of four types of loyalty (cognitive, affective, co-native and action) results indicate that the intensity of cognitive loyalty was higher than affective loyalty, co-native and action loyalty. Co-native loyalty is also higher than action loyalty. This thesis provides evidence for the first time in Bangladesh of various linkages between bonds, service quality, relationship quality, loyalty and retention and hence, contributes to both theoretical and practical knowledge. The findings suggest that by employing adequate service quality provisions and bonds it is possible to enhance and build quality relationships between parties.

Global food production places significant demands on the environment, contributing to climate change and environmental degradation. The transition to sustainable production and consumption systems is therefore critical in meeting the food demands of growing populations while preserving the ecosystem. Supermarkets, as intermediaries between suppliers and consumers, play an important role in promoting sustainable consumption. However, their profit-driven nature has frequently stifled genuine change. The use of tools, such as life cycle assessment (LCA) has recently boomed in the food industry to help combat negative effects of food production. However, the complexity and variability of food production, as well as the tools’ technopolitical considerations, complicate their application to the food value chain, requiring a critical approach. The thesis explored the intersection of these two topics, specifically the sustainability initiatives of Swedish supermarkets and the role of the life cycle perspective in them. The study found that the life cycle perspective does not currently play a significant role in Swedish supermarkets’ sustainability initiatives, with applications primarily limited to generic carbon footprint data. Furthermore, supermarkets were found to promote a weak model of sustainable consumption, with their transformative potential limited by consumer demand and the desire for profit. Nonetheless, the findings revealed a shift in retailer attitudes relative to previous research, with greater recognition of their responsibility and sustainability initiatives in procurement. While more comprehensive and drastic approaches are required for the long-term transformation of the food value chain, shared initiatives and increased standardisation show promise in bringing actors together to achieve this goal. / Den globala livsmedelsproduktionen ställer stora krav på miljön och bidrar till klimatförändringar och miljöförstöring. Övergången till hållbara produktions- och konsumtionssystem är därför avgörande för att möta den växande befolkningens efterfrågan på livsmedel samtidigt som ekosystemet bevaras. Stormarknader, som mellanhänder mellan leverantörer och konsumenter, spelar en viktig roll för att främja hållbar konsumtion. Deras vinstdrivande natur har dock ofta hämmat verklig förändring. Användningen av verktyg som livscykelanalys (LCA) har på senare tid ökat kraftigt inom livsmedelsindustrin för att bekämpa negativa effekter av livsmedelsproduktionen. Men livsmedelsproduktionens komplexitet och variabilitet, liksom verktygens teknopolitiska överväganden, komplicerar deras tillämpning på livsmedelsvärdekedjan och kräver ett kritiskt förhållningssätt. Avhandlingen undersökte skärningspunkten mellan dessa två ämnen, särskilt svenska stormarknaders hållbarhetsinitiativ och livscykelperspektivets roll i dem. Studien visade att livscykelperspektivet för närvarande inte spelar någon betydande roll i svenska stormarknaders hållbarhetsinitiativ, med tillämpningar som främst är begränsade till generiska koldioxidavtrycksdata. Dessutom visade det sig att stormarknaderna främjar en svag modell för hållbar konsumtion, där deras omvandlingspotential begränsas av konsumenternas efterfrågan och önskan om vinst. Resultaten visade dock på en förändring i återförsäljarnas attityder i förhållande till tidigare forskning, med ett större erkännande av deras ansvar och hållbarhetsinitiativ inom upphandling. Även om det krävs mer omfattande och drastiska tillvägagångssätt för en långsiktig omvandling av livsmedelsvärdekedjan, är gemensamma initiativ och ökad standardisering lovande när det gäller att föra samman aktörer för att uppnå detta mål.

The aim of this thesis is to depict specifics of Corporate social responsibility in food retailing in European perspective. The empirical part provides an analysis of CSR strategies of eight major food retail chains in the Czech Republic. Responsible actions are summarized according to the level of CSR to: minimize risks, enhance business and generate innovations. Survey was conducted in order to obtain consumers' perceptions towards CSR actions in food retailing and image of analyzed retailers.

Auch wenn Multichannel-Vertriebsstrategien Gegenstand vieler Untersuchungen sind, befassen sich nur wenige Studien mit ihren Auswirkungen auf Logistik- und Transportorganisation. Die zentralen Fragen lauten daher: Wie verändern sich die Warenströme durch die Einführung des Lebensmittelonlinehandels? Und haben verschiedene Formen von Onlineangeboten unterschiedliche Auswirkungen auf die Warenströme? Für die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation wurden Daten aus Frankreich und Deutschland analysiert. Im Mittelpunkt standen die Auswirkungen des Lebensmittelonlinehandels auf die Lieferkette, einschließlich der letzten Meile. Darüber hinaus war es das Ziel, die Strategien und den logistischen Transport der Distributoren im Hinblick auf den Kontext, in dem sie auftreten, zu verstehen. Die Arbeit bietet eine umfassende Untersuchung der beiden Märkte Deutschland und Frankreich. Die Ergebnisse einer vergleichenden Analyse zeigen, wie unterschiedlich sich die Warenflüsse über die gesamte Supply Chain durch das Angebot von Onlinewaren verändern. Neben der letzten Meile erfahren auch die vorgelagerten Strukturen in der Lieferkette eine Veränderung: I) Neue Standorte in Kundennähe für die Organisation der Onlinelebensmitteldistribution werden erschlossen. II) Eine Dezentralisierung von Distributionsstrukturen findet statt. III) Es entstehen neue Beziehungen zwischen Akteuren der Lieferkette. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen tragen zu einem besseren systematischen Verständnis von Onlinelebensmittelpraktiken bei Forschern und Praktikern bei. / Even though multichannel distribution strategies are the subject of many research studies, few have addressed their impact on logistics and transport organisations. The present research addresses this gap by investigating the central questions: ‘How do commodity flows change through the introduction of online grocery services? Can different configurations of online grocery services, and thus different commodity flows, be observed in France and Germany?’ For this cumulative dissertation, data from France and Germany were analysed. The impact of online grocery sales on supply chains was examined through a comparative analysis, and the relevance of different settings and contextual environments was established. The analyses show that the decision to offer goods online impacts the entire supply chain of the grocer, and the impact differs in France and Germany. Order processing, last-mile delivery and upstream structures in the supply chain are experiencing three fundamental areas of change: I) new locations for the organisation of online food distribution – usually close to the customers – are being developed; II) a decentralisation of distribution structures is taking place; and III) new relationships between actors in the supply chain are emerging. The thesis systematically records and describes adaptation mechanisms and reveals the differences in the supply chain structures compared to the stationary food trade. Based on the structured analysis of two neighbouring but distinct markets, further insights relevant to research and practice could be generated. The results of the analyses contribute to a better systematic understanding of online food practices among researchers and practitioners. / Bien que les stratégies de distribution multicanale fassent l'objet de nombreuses recherches, peu d'études traitent de leur impact sur l’organisation de la logistique et des transports. Par conséquent, notre problématique est la suivante : comment les flux de marchandises évoluent-ils suite à l'introduction de l'épicerie en ligne ? Et quels sont les impacts des différentes formes d'offres en ligne sur les chaines d’approvisionnement ? Pour ce mémoire de synthèse, des données provenant de France et d'Allemagne ont été analysées et comparées. L'accent est mis sur l'impact du commerce d'alimentaire en ligne sur la totalité de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. En outre, l'objectif de ce mémoire est de comprendre les stratégies logistiques et de transport des distributeurs en fonction du contexte géographique dans lequel ils interviennent. La recherche est basée sur un ensemble de méthodes, en mettant l'accent sur les méthodes de la recherche qualitative et les analyses quantitatives complémentaires. Grâce à la comparaison de la situation en France et en Allemagne, et à l'analyse approfondie des acteurs du marché (via des entretiens avec des experts), le mémoire offre une réflexion complète sur les deux marchés. Les résultats des analyses montrent que l'offre des biens alimentaire en ligne modifie le flux des marchandises toute au long de la chaine d’approvisionnement, depuis le traitement des commandes jusqu’à la livraison. En effet : 1) de nouveaux sites pour l'organisation de la distribution alimentaire en ligne sont développés, souvent situés à proximité des clients ; 2) on observe une décentralisation des structures de distribution ; 3) de nouvelles relations entre les acteurs de la chaîne d'approvisionnement apparaissent. Les résultats de ces analyses contribuent à une meilleure compréhension systématique des pratiques de la distribution alimentaire en ligne.