<p>During the last decades organizations have made large investments in Information Technology (IT). The effects of these investments have been studied in business and academic communities over the years. A large amount of research has been conducted on the relation between the investments in IT and productivity growth. Productivity is a central measure of national and organizational success and is often considered in economic decisionmaking. Researchers have however found it difficult to present a clear-cut answer to the effect of IT investments on productivity growth; an inability defined as the productivity paradox.</p><p>Within the Impact of IT on Productivity (ITOP) research program the relevance of the productivity measure as an indicator of the value of IT is questionned. IT has over the years replaced physical interfaces with digital and in this way enabled new ways to process information. A retrospective research approach is therefore applied where the effects of digitized information flows are studied within specific organizational settings.</p><p>In this thesis the effects of digitized information flows within Swedish grocery distribution are studied. A comprehensive presentation of the development is first conducted and three focal areas are thereafter presented. These describe supply chain information flows including order information, information on new items and analysis of point-of-sales information. The presentation of the focal areas identifies a number of effects from the digitization of information flows. The effects are analyzed according to a predefined analytical framework. The effects are divided into five categories and are thereafter evaluated when it comes to potential for generating value.</p><p>The study shows that the digitization of information flows has generated numerous, multifaceted effects. Automational, informational, transformational, consumer surplus and other effects are observed. They are difficult to evaluate using a single ndicator. Specific indicators that are closely related to the effects can however be defined. The study also concludes that the productivity measure does not capture all positive effects generated by digitized information flows.</p> / ISRN/Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic-2005:39

<p>Bakgrund</p><p>Detaljisterna på den svenska livsmedelsmarknaden har bland annat genom koncentration fått ökad makt gentemot leverantörer. Då de tre största detaljisterna står för 87 % av marknaden är det av betydelse för leverantörerna att få sälja till dessa detaljister. Detaljisterna säljer inte bara leverantörernas produkter utan även egna märkesvaror. Detta leder till att leverantörens kund, detaljisten, även är deras konkurrent.</p><p>Genomförande</p><p>Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie för att undersöka hur leverantörerna kan konkurrera med de egna märkesvarorna. Vår empiri är grundad på intervjuer med åtta leverantörer och två detaljister. Vidare har vi genomfört tre fokusgrupper med totalt tolv konsumenter.</p><p>Resultat</p><p>Leverantörerna måste göra sig attraktiv för både detaljister och konsumenter. Genom att driva produktkategorin kan detaljisten göra sig attraktiv för detaljisten då försäljningen av de egna märkesvarorna ökar om produktkategorin växer. Produktutveckling och reklam är två sätt att driva en produktkategori. Konsumentens krav på leverantörernas produkter är att de skall hålla högre kvalitet varför det är viktigt för leverantörerna att ta hänsyn till detta. Eftersom detaljisterna har stor makt är det viktigt för leverantörerna att minska beroendet till dessa. Detta kan uppnås genom att leverantörerna ingår i koncerner. Då minskar beroendet av ett enskilt varumärke. Leverantörerna kan även sprida sina risker genom att sälja till olika marknader, så som restauranger och storkök samt till andra nationella marknader.</p> / <p>Background</p><p>The retailer in the Swedish grocery market has increased their power throw concentration. The three largest retailers have a market share of 87 %, and for the suppliers it is important to sell to these retailers. The retailers doesn’t only sell the suppliers products, they also sell their own private labels. This means that the suppliers’ costumer, the retailer, also is their competitor.</p><p>Execution</p><p>This study is conducted as a qualitative study to examine how the suppliers can manage the competition from the private labels. Our empirical data is collected throw interviews with eight suppliers and two retailers. Three focus groups with a total of twelve consumers have also been made.</p><p>Results</p><p>The suppliers have to satisfy both consumers and the retailers. By research and development the supplier satisfy the retailer because the public labels sales increase as the product category increases. Advertising is another way to increase the sales of the product category. The consumers’ demand of the suppliers’ products is that they should have superior quality. This aspect is important for the supplier to have in mind. Though the retailers’ has a great power, suppliers must the decrease the dependence to the retailer. This can be accomplished throw selling to different markets, such as restaurants and other national markets. The suppliers can also join a group of other suppliers, and the effect will be that the dependence of a single brand decreases.</p>

<p>The retail sector is at the forefront of internationalisation activities. It is especially the case for German and French retailers that operate respectively 27,8% and 20,6% of non domestic outlets in Western Europe. Stating this, the grocery retailers have also drastically changed their orientation, from domestic to multinational players since two decades: a relatively new and important subject that needs to be taken into account. Within this frame, Casino and REWE Group are good examples of internationalisation since both have the same size internationally but do not operate in the same area and do not seem to have the same strategy regarding their global activities.</p><p>The aim of the research is to find outstanding characteristics in the internationalisation strategy of European grocery retailers, via the case of Casino and REWE Group. In order to illuminate this aim, Porter's (1980) ‘Structural Analysis of Industries’ is going to be used to the grocery retailing sector following a previous demonstration of Colla (2003) and other field-specific theories. After pointing out the similitude between the two companies in their domestic markets, several dimensions have been taken into account to analyse the differences when going international such as geographical spread, branding, channel selection, and ownership.</p><p>We have identified two different internationalisation strategies, through the case of these retailers. Thus, we have drawn a dichotomy in the European food retailing industry internationalisation strategy between what we named ‘umbrella organisation’ and ‘unifying organisation’. The latter is characterised by a unified branding strategy, operating few formats, looking for full control of its operation abroad via direct takeovers or organic growth, and looking for harmonisation of its operations abroad. On the opposite, an umbrella organisation operates numerous banners abroad. It is mostly looking for a multi-format offer, enters countries via overtime capital acquisition and gives more independence to its affiliates worldwide.</p>

The study examines the phenomenon of purchasing locally produced foods in retail grocery stores. Theoretical foundations from the theory of planned behavior and from the stimulus-organism-response framework were used to support and test a model that hypothesized relationships between attitude, subjective norms, perceived consumer effectiveness, perceived product availability, intention to purchase, store atmospheric responsiveness, price consciousness, and extent of purchase behavior in a retail grocery setting. An online survey methodology was used to collect 600 responses across the United States. A two-step approach to structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships. Confirmatory factor analysis with measurement model development supported the hypotheses of store atmospheric responsiveness as a multidimensional construct reflected in four specific dimensions (1) product assortment responsiveness, (2) display factors responsiveness, (3) customer service responsiveness, and (4) store promotions responsiveness. The construct of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) was found to highly correlate with attitude and PCE was subsequently dropped as an independent latent construct. Results from analysis of the fitted structural model indicated that attitude and perceived product availability were significant positive indicators of intention to purchase, while subjective norms indicated a significant negative relationship to intention to purchase. A significant positive direct effect between intention to purchase and extent of purchase and a significant positive indirect effect through that of store atmospheric responsiveness was found, suggesting that store atmospheric responsiveness partially mediates the relationship. Consumer price consciousness was found to not significantly moderate the relationship between intention to purchase and extent of purchase. From the results, academic and managerial implications were suggested. For future research directions, four distinct categories emerged; they included (1) a focus on store atmospherics, specifically store atmospheric responsiveness when shopping for locally produced foods, (2) analysis of group differences between shoppers of locally produced foods, (3) category analysis of locally produced food items, and (4) research on the pricing of locally produced foods.

Most literature on consumer decision-making concentrate on which attributes a certain brand evokes, how a brand is evaluated, or how well a brand can stand the competition of another brand. This is a bit funny since one of the most obvious aspects of decision-making for fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) is that most products are never considered. Recalling a typical trip to a grocery store one probably realizes that most of the products simply were given no conscious attention. Chances are that a consumer notices less than 1% (of the perhaps close to 10.000 items in a regular grocery store) enough to consider if the item is of any interest. Therefore, in the present thesis the focus is on the influences that enhance, inhibit, or affect the processing of brands, brand associations, ads, or decision criteria, prior to reaching the level of conscious decision-making. These influences are regarded as non-conscious filters, making consumer decision-making as simple and flexible as required by many situations. The filters allow consumers to notice what they search for or what they normally pay attention to, and to ignore complex, disturbing, or unfamiliar stimuli. The thesis consists of an introduction chapter and five articles. The introduction chapter provides a comprehensive picture of the common theme of the articles, namely non-conscious influences on decision-making. The articles cover non-conscious influences during each of the five steps commonly included in the consumer decision-making process. Examples of questions that are elaborated on are: Which criteria influence the degree to which people behave habitually versus respond to marketing stimuli? What is influencing the choice of decision strategy? For example, what influences people to be more loyal versus more deal prone? And what makes people learn something new from an ad instead of just rehearsing what they already new? One aim of the present thesis is to answer questions like the ones stated above. Furthermore, it is argued that these influences are active at a stage before what could be defined as full conscious control. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2005 S. 1-112: sammanfattning, s. 113-228, [5] s.: 5 uppsater

Millions of dollars are spent each year on sales promotion in grocery retailing. Despite this, no one really knows wheter promotions for individual items have positive, neutral, or negative effects on the store’s total profits. In this dissertation, an attempt is made to build a framework model that can be used to predict and evaluate how specific promotions affect item-level, category-level, and store-level profits. One major contribution is that the proposed model specifically incorporates store-traffic and cannibalization effects. The book consists of four parts: the first part is a review of the literature on sales promotion. The second part describes the development of a model for measuring the profit of retailer promotions. The third part shows the impact of sales promotion on profits for a number of hypothetical products. The fourth part measures the profit impact of sales promotions for 15 items in three product categories. The data used in this study were collected in a Swedish supermarket in cooperation with ICA. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1995

The retail sector is at the forefront of internationalisation activities. It is especially the case for German and French retailers that operate respectively 27,8% and 20,6% of non domestic outlets in Western Europe. Stating this, the grocery retailers have also drastically changed their orientation, from domestic to multinational players since two decades: a relatively new and important subject that needs to be taken into account. Within this frame, Casino and REWE Group are good examples of internationalisation since both have the same size internationally but do not operate in the same area and do not seem to have the same strategy regarding their global activities. The aim of the research is to find outstanding characteristics in the internationalisation strategy of European grocery retailers, via the case of Casino and REWE Group. In order to illuminate this aim, Porter's (1980) ‘Structural Analysis of Industries’ is going to be used to the grocery retailing sector following a previous demonstration of Colla (2003) and other field-specific theories. After pointing out the similitude between the two companies in their domestic markets, several dimensions have been taken into account to analyse the differences when going international such as geographical spread, branding, channel selection, and ownership. We have identified two different internationalisation strategies, through the case of these retailers. Thus, we have drawn a dichotomy in the European food retailing industry internationalisation strategy between what we named ‘umbrella organisation’ and ‘unifying organisation’. The latter is characterised by a unified branding strategy, operating few formats, looking for full control of its operation abroad via direct takeovers or organic growth, and looking for harmonisation of its operations abroad. On the opposite, an umbrella organisation operates numerous banners abroad. It is mostly looking for a multi-format offer, enters countries via overtime capital acquisition and gives more independence to its affiliates worldwide.

Bakgrund Detaljisterna på den svenska livsmedelsmarknaden har bland annat genom koncentration fått ökad makt gentemot leverantörer. Då de tre största detaljisterna står för 87 % av marknaden är det av betydelse för leverantörerna att få sälja till dessa detaljister. Detaljisterna säljer inte bara leverantörernas produkter utan även egna märkesvaror. Detta leder till att leverantörens kund, detaljisten, även är deras konkurrent. Genomförande Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie för att undersöka hur leverantörerna kan konkurrera med de egna märkesvarorna. Vår empiri är grundad på intervjuer med åtta leverantörer och två detaljister. Vidare har vi genomfört tre fokusgrupper med totalt tolv konsumenter. Resultat Leverantörerna måste göra sig attraktiv för både detaljister och konsumenter. Genom att driva produktkategorin kan detaljisten göra sig attraktiv för detaljisten då försäljningen av de egna märkesvarorna ökar om produktkategorin växer. Produktutveckling och reklam är två sätt att driva en produktkategori. Konsumentens krav på leverantörernas produkter är att de skall hålla högre kvalitet varför det är viktigt för leverantörerna att ta hänsyn till detta. Eftersom detaljisterna har stor makt är det viktigt för leverantörerna att minska beroendet till dessa. Detta kan uppnås genom att leverantörerna ingår i koncerner. Då minskar beroendet av ett enskilt varumärke. Leverantörerna kan även sprida sina risker genom att sälja till olika marknader, så som restauranger och storkök samt till andra nationella marknader. / Background The retailer in the Swedish grocery market has increased their power throw concentration. The three largest retailers have a market share of 87 %, and for the suppliers it is important to sell to these retailers. The retailers doesn’t only sell the suppliers products, they also sell their own private labels. This means that the suppliers’ costumer, the retailer, also is their competitor. Execution This study is conducted as a qualitative study to examine how the suppliers can manage the competition from the private labels. Our empirical data is collected throw interviews with eight suppliers and two retailers. Three focus groups with a total of twelve consumers have also been made. Results The suppliers have to satisfy both consumers and the retailers. By research and development the supplier satisfy the retailer because the public labels sales increase as the product category increases. Advertising is another way to increase the sales of the product category. The consumers’ demand of the suppliers’ products is that they should have superior quality. This aspect is important for the supplier to have in mind. Though the retailers’ has a great power, suppliers must the decrease the dependence to the retailer. This can be accomplished throw selling to different markets, such as restaurants and other national markets. The suppliers can also join a group of other suppliers, and the effect will be that the dependence of a single brand decreases.

Food waste from grocery stores - An analysis of municipal management inSweden and a detailed study of the situation in Umeå municipality The objective of this thesis was to analyze the municipal management of food waste fromgrocery stores in Sweden in general and in Umeå municipality in particular. Furthermore theobjective was to account for the different waste treatment methods that can be used and toevaluate them from an environmental perspective. In order to analyze the municipalmanagement a survey was sent to all of the municipalities/municipal waste companies inSweden. A general comparison of treatment methods was carried out on the basis of ascientific review and a system analysis was performed in order to compare three differenttreatment alternatives for the food waste generated in grocery stores in Umeå. The surveyshowed that the legal definition of food waste from grocery stores is unclear and variesbetween municipalities. However, a majority of the municipalities that offer any kind ofsource separation include grocery stores in the offer. The packaged food waste is oftenincinerated even if source separation is available due to the difficulties with removingpackaging materials. Concerning treatment methods, the results show that composting is theenvironmentally least advantageous method for large-scale treatment of food waste.Incineration and anaerobic digestion are about equal in their environmental impact, but thelatter was found to be favorable in principle based on the fact that it, in theory, generates bothnutrient recycling and energy recovery. For the food waste generated in grocery stores inUmeå municipality, incineration at the Dåva power and heating plant was found to be thepreferable method rather than anaerobic digestion in Skellefteå and composting in Luleå.

I denna branschstudie gällande livsmedelsbutiker, kommer vi att beröra hur butiker kan marknadsföra sig samt vilka faktorer som spelar störst roll vid kundernas val av butik. För att kunna klargöra detta, kommer vi att använda oss av teorier så som Porters fem konkurrenskrafter samt vissa skolformer utifrån boken Marketing Theory av Jagdish N. Sheth, David M. Gardner och Dennis E. Garret. Vi upptäckte under arbetets gång att det är en komplicerad marknad, vilket även kommer att diskuteras under kommande kapitel. Syftet med uppsatsen är att få en djupare inblick hur marknaden ser ut då de olika livsmedelsbutikerna marknadsför sig på olika sätt, samt även kunna konstatera vilka faktorer som är avgörande för kunderna vad gäller deras val av butik. De forskningsfrågor vi satte upp inför denna studie var: ”Hur marknadsför sig livsmedelsbutikerna till kunderna?” ”Vilka är de faktorer som styr konsumenternas val av butik?” För att kunna besvara våra forskningsfrågor, har vi genomfört två typer av studier. En kvalitativ undersökning där vi genomförde två intervjuer med en informant från en mindre Coop-butik samt en informant från en större Ica-butik. Den andra studien var en kvantitativ undersökning, där vi genomförde en enkätundersökning för att få reda på kundernas krav och dylikt. Utifrån resultatet av våra undersökningar ställdes dessa mot de teorier vi har tillämpat för att kunna få fram en teoretiskt stärkt bild av dagens livsmedelsmarknad. Teorierna har hjälpt oss att få en klar och tydlig uppfattning om hur livsmedelsmarknaden fungerar. Vi kan genom vår undersökning se, att det finns klara skillnader utifrån storleken på butik när det kommer till hur marknadsföringen utformas samt hur butiken är geografiskt placerad. Kundernas val av butik bestod till största delen av åsikter som berörde butikens utbud samt geografiska positionering. Dock har vi sett från tidigare forskning, att det finns många fler faktorer som styr valet av butik. Mycket av detta sker undermedvetet hos kunderna. För att kunna få en mer tydligare bild av detta, har vi utvecklat tre olika kundtyper: Den uppmärksamma Den ouppmärksamma Den medkänslosamma / In this paper about grocery stores, we will try to find out how retailers market themselves and what the underlying factors are for the customers when they do their choice of store. To clarify this, we will use some theories such as Porter's five competitive forces and certain types of schools based on the book Marketing Theory by Jagdish N. Sheth, David M. Gardner and Dennis E. Garrett. During the work with this paper we discovered that this is a complicated market, which also will be discussed in later chapters. The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper insight into how the market looks as the various grocery stores market themselves in different ways, but also be able to identify those factors that are crucial concerning customers choice of store. The research questions for our study were: “How do the grocery stores market themselves towards customers?” “What are the factors that make customers choose a store?” In order to answer our research questions, we have conducted two types of studies. The first one was a qualitative study, where we performed two interviews, one with an informant from a smaller Coop store and one with an informant from a larger Ica store. The second study was a quantitative survey, where we conducted a survey to find out customers requirements etc. Based on the results of our investigations, we set up the result against the theories that we have applied to obtain a theoretically confirmed image of today’s grocery store market. The theories have helped us to gain a clear idea of how the market works. We can see through our investigation that there are some distinct differences based on the size of the store when it comes to how the stores market themselves and where the stores are geographically positioned. Customer’s choice of store consisted largely of opinions involving the stores offering and geographic positioning. However, we have seen from previous research that it is much more than just these factors that made customers choice of stores. To get a clearer image about it, we have developed this to these three different types of customers: The attentive The inattentive The compassionate