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This study is the result of two separate surveys of the retail grocery stores in Logan, Utah. The primary purpose of these surveys was to make a detailed study of price differentials as they exist between the stores of different kind, class, location and size. Logan was chosien for this survey for a number of reasons: (1) It is typical of many Rocky Mountain cities for size. (2) There is no one industry that completely dominates the economy of the city. (3) There are sufficient stores in kind and number to give the necessary data. (4) Besides the local independent stores that are in operation, there is a national chain system represented by Safeway Stores, Inc. and a small state chain represented by the American Food Store. The problem was to survey the Logan city grocery stroes for price data on food commodities in sufficient number to indicated the price differentials that exist within the stores. To facilitate this the local stores were segregated into four distinct classes, namely: (1) national chains, (2) a small state chain, (3) large city independents, and (4) neighborhood stores. The prices found in the chain systems were used as a bases for the comparisons that are made between both the chain stores and the two groups of independent stores. The study has proven valuable in that price differentials have been discovered to exist between the various commodity groups, as well as within the individual items. These differentials have varied with the commodity and within the different classifications of stores. Many of the pricing policies that are being practiced in the Logan stores are representative of market conditions as they exist in other cities within the Rocky area and might justifiably be applied to these communities with the expectations that similar results would occure.

Problemformulering: Vår studie handlar om konsumenters relation till butikspersonalen inom dagligvaruhandeln, alltså butiker som i första hand säljer livsmedel men även andra dagligvaror. Hur interaktionen mellan konsument och produkt är och hur situationen vid konsumtionen ser ut är faktorer som Laaksonen (2010) menar påverkar den engagemangsnivå konsumenten upplever. Vi vill därför studera hur relationen till butikspersonalen kan påverka hur konsumtionssituationen upplevs av konsumenten och hur den påverkar engagemangsnivån, då dagligvaror ofta anses som lågengagemangsprodukter. Det behövs mer studier som skapar förståelse om vilken påverkan personalen har på konsumentens upplevelse av relationen, då relationen är en faktor som bidrar till konsumentens lojalitet. Syfte: Studien syftar till att få större kunskap om vilken betydelse relationen med butikspersonalen har för konsumentens upplevelse av lojalitet. Lojalitet innefattar många faktorer, vi har valt att fokusera på faktorn relationer. Detta för att bidra till en ökad förståelse om konsumentens relation till butikspersonalen då det kan hjälpa butiken att förstå hur de kan arbeta vidare med relationsskapandet till konsumenten. Detta är viktigt för butiken att ha förståelse om då relationen även påverkar konsumentens relation till butiken som i sin tur påverkar konsumentens lojalitet. Metod: För att få större kunskap om hur viktigt konsumenter upplever att personalen i butiken är och vad hos butikspersonalen som konsumenten efterfrågar i relationen, valde vi att samla in data från konsumenter och analysera svaren, vilket i detta fall gjorts via intervjuer. Teori: Den teori som vi främst använt oss av är lojalitetsbegreppet och relationsmarknadsföring. Slutsats: Priser, öppettider och sortiment är viktiga faktorer vid skapandet av en långvarig relation med butiken men för att konsumenten ska välja en butik framför en annan måste bemötandet från personalen vara bra. Det finns många dagligvarubutiker att välja på i konsumenternas närområde vilket gör att faktorerna priser, öppettider och sortiment inte blir avgörande. Det är istället relationen till butikspersonalen och att konsumenten känner sig speciell, respekterad och betydelsefull som blir en konkurrensfördel och avgörande faktor för konsumenternas val av butik. En tillmötesgående och positiv personal gör att relationen stärks och konsumenterna får en mer positiv inställning till butiken. Även i de fall där konsumenterna inte upplever personalen som så viktig bidrar ändå en tillmötesgående personal till att konsumenten uppfattar butiken som mer attraktiv. / Problem: Our study is about consumers' relationship with the store staff in the grocery store, then stores that primarily sell food but also other consumer goods. How the interaction between the consumer and the product is and how the situation looks at consumption are factors Laaksonen (2010) argues affect the commitment level of the consumer experience. We therefore want to study how the relationship with the store staff can affect the consumption situation experienced by the consumer and how it affects the level of commitment, then consumer goods often considered low-engagement products. It needs more studies to create understanding about the impact staff have on the consumer's perception of the relationship, then the relationship is a factor contributing to consumer loyalty. Objective: This study aims to gain greater knowledge of the importance of the relationship with the store staff for the consumer’s experience of loyalty. Loyalty involves many factors, we have chosen to focus on the factor relationships. This will contribute to a better understanding of the consumer's relationship with the store staff as it can help the store to understand how they can work on creating relationships with the consumer. This is important for the store to have an understanding of because the relationship also affects the consumer's relationship with the store, which in turn affects the consumer's loyalty. Method: To gain greater knowledge of how important the consumer experience that the staff in the shop is and what the consumer request of the staff in the relationship, we chose to collect data from consumers and analyze the responses, which in this case was collected by interviews. Secondary data that we used was collected from books and scientific articles. Theory: The main theory that we used was the concept of loyalty and relationship marketing. Conclusion: Prices, opening hours and range are important factors in creating a long-lasting relationship with the store, but for the consumer to choose one store over another the personal treatment from the staff must be good. There are many grocery stores to choose from in the immediate area of consumer, making the elements of prices, opening hours and range not crucial. It is instead the staff and their attitude that becomes a competitive advantage and crucial factor in consumers' choice of store. An accommodating and positive staff makes the relationship stronger and the consumer gets a more positive attitude to the store. Even in cases where consumers do not experience the staff as an important contribution they still experience that an accommodating staff makes the shop more attractive.

Att ha lojala kunder är något att sträva efter. Men vad gör en kund lojal? Den har studien försöker att ta reda på det genom att intervjua tio olika svenska personer för att få deras syn på lojalitet som fenomen och vad det innebär att vara en lojalkund för dem. Slutsatsen är att kundlojalitet är en relevant term men när det kom till att vara lojal visade det sig att de flesta av respondenterna inte var lojala, även om de hade ett lojalt beteende. En av de viktigaste faktorerna för deras köpbeteende var den geografiska platsen affären låg på i förhållande till deras eget boende. En av de viktigaste slutsatserna är även att det är genom ditt handlande(beteende) du visar din lojalitet inom dagligvaruhandeln. / Program: Kandidatutbildning i företagsekonomi

Lack of accessibility to healthy foods is a factor associated with the increase in obesity, diabetes, and other negative health consequences. While programs such as WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) provide supplemental nutritional access to healthy foods, few organic food items are included in the WIC authorized food list. Government programs and policy makers that provide to the most vulnerable populations are concerned about equal availability of healthy foods. The purpose of this study was to compare variability and cost of organic food items in 24 large chain grocery stores located in high- and low-income areas. The theoretical concepts of social production of disease and political economy of health guided the study. The study used a quantitative research design to investigate the relationship between neighborhood income level and the consumer nutrition environment. Organic food scores were compared by neighborhood income level using t test and ANOVA. There were significant differences in availability and variability scores of healthy organic foods between high- and low-income neighborhood stores. Organic food items, specifically 15% fat content ground beef, peanut butter, apple juice, and eggs were priced significantly higher than conventional items (p < 0.05). Pricing of organic foods varied and no significant pricing trends were noted between neighborhood income levels. This study may contribute to social change by enhancing the conversation on organic food availability and affordability. Social change may be promoted through identification of the need to expand WIC authorization of organic food items and increasing produce voucher amount to allow WIC participants to purchase higher amounts of organic produce.

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

Sverige är ett land som är bra på att ta hand om det avfall som uppstår. Mängden matavfall ökar hela tiden och händer ingenting snarast så kommer det finnas dubbelt så mycket om 20 år. Om en hållbar utveckling ska uppnås så måste mängden avfall som kastas minskas drastiskt. Naturvårdsverket har på uppdrag av regeringen föreslagit att matavfallet ska minska med 20 procent fram till år 2020, till skillnad mot år 2010. Sverige kastar 1,9 miljoner ton matavfall varje år. En stor del av detta är mat som faktiskt hade kunnat ätas, om det hanterats annorlunda. Matsvinn är ett globalt problem som uppstår i hela världen men även i hela livsmedelskedjan. Olika studier visar på att stora mängder mat kasseras i onödan varje dag. Det är olika svårt att minska matsvinnet i de olika stegen i livsmedelskedjan. Svårighetsgraden beror på hur mycket matsvinn de olika stegen erhåller. Ju längre produkterna har färdats i kedjan, desto mer energi och resurser har gått till spillo. Denna studie syftar på att ta reda på hur livsmedelsbutiker hanterar matsvinn men även kundernas medvetenhet kring ämnet. Semistrukturerade intervjuer med de ansvariga på frukt och grönt och ”på- stan-intervjuer” med kunder har genomförts i tre olika livsmedelsbutiker för att få fram en bild i hur matsvinn hanteras både hemma och i butiker. Resultatet visade på att livsmedelsbutikerna är medvetna kring ämnet och har förebyggande åtgärder i rutin för att hålla nere svinnet men att de ändå kan bli bättre. Samtidigt vill butikerna sälja så mycket varor som möjligt vilket skapar en komplex värld. Kunderna i de studerade butikerna visar på att de flesta tänker på hur mycket matsvinn de har hemma men att de sen inte vill eller kan intresserad sig för livsmedelsbutikernas svinn. Studien visade även på att det finns skillnader mellan kön- och åldersgrupper bland kunderna vilket är ett intressant resultat. / Sweden is a country that is good at taking care of the waste that arises. The amount of food waste is increasing continuously and if nothing happens soon there will be twice as much in 20 years. If sustainable development is to be achieved, the amount of thrown waste must be reduced. Naturvårdsverket (environmental protection agency) has suggested by commission of the government that food waste will decrease by 20 percent by 2020, unlike in 2010. Sweden throws 1.9 million tons of food waste every year. A large part of this is food that actually could have been eaten, if handled differently. Food loss is a global issue, which occurs in the whole world but also in the entire food chain. Various studies show that large quantities of food are discarded unnecessarily every day. It ́s different to reduce food loss in different steps in the food chain, depending on the food loss receiving in the various steps. The longer the products have been in the chain, the more energy and resources have been wasted. This study aims to find out how grocery stores handle food loss but also customers awareness around the topic. Semi-structured interviews with the responsible for the studied section, and "at-town interviews” with the costumers, have been conducted in three different grocery stores to obtain an image of how food loss is managed both at home and in stores. The results showed that food stores are conscious about the subject and have preventive measures in the routine to keep down losses, but they can always be better. At the same time stores will sell as much merchandise as possible which creating a complex world. Customers in the studied stores shows that most people thinking of food loss at home but that they don’t want to or can be interested for the grocery stores wastage. The study also shows that there is a difference between gender and ages, which is a rather interesting result.

The following project is a collaboration with HRI Teknik and Robomatic AB, that found a possible market for improving cleanliness in grocery stores by improving the hygiene of costumer baskets. Bacteria and left over items in the basket builds up a health risk for the costumers, if not properly cleaned regularly. The dirt and bacteria from the basket is broth home thru the groceries coming in contact during shopping. The need has been strengthened by surveys for the two store managers and the customers of the grocery store. To reduce the spreads of diseases, the baskets should be cleaned better and more frequently by having the proper detergent and cleaning system. The aim of the study is to develop a concept of a cleaning machine for baskets used in grocery stores. This is done by a well- defined technical driven development process, considering all six steps. The supportive research concerning framework has laid as a foundation for the construction of the cleaning machine. Research proves that framework creates a robust and safe construction, absorbing tensile and compressive forces in the longitudinal direction. The outcome from the technical driven process and the theoretical study is a visual, three dimensional model of concept. The concepts main function is to be driven by a belt with hooks, which is hanging on the machine. The baskets are then hanged on the movable belt in order to get cleaned. During the project, resources as material, working place and expertise is provided to sufficient degree so a concept can be developed. Since the project has a limited period of time, it was recognized the project would not be able to get to the production stages. The concept and function need to be tested and investigated to solve the remaining details. This is left for further development beyond the project, and is laying at HRI Teknik and Robomatic AB.

The role of internet and the digitalized world are more relevant than ever before. The new phenomena of digital marketing has created a paradigm shift of existing marketing with new ways to market. Social media plays a significant role in this change, since it allows businesses to easily engage with its customers and to maintain relationships. For small and local businesses, this change has created great opportunities to interact more with the local audience. However, not all such businesses have the sufficient knowledge to optimize the usage of social media. The focus of the study is to explore the current usage of social media in local businesses context. Furthermore, we will suggest social media marketing strategies that will help local business to improve its customer relations. The qualitative approach is applied in this study by using interviews and observations, which is the main source of primary data collection. The conclusion was that local grocery stores still rely much more on traditional marketing methods. However, local grocery stores still use and value social media, but most are unclear of the true benefits and strategies when using social media. Lacking strategies consist of planning the social media marketing strategies, but also lacks the formal management of critical situations on social media. Overall, local stores perform well in building relations with its customers using social media however, there is a scope of further improvements.