The storage and use of voluminous data are perplexing issues, the resolution of which has become more pressing with the exponential growth of information. Lakehouses are relatively new approaches that try to accomplish this while hiding the complexity from the user. They provide similar capabilities to a standard database while operating on top of low-cost storage and open file formats. An example of such a system is Hudi, which internally uses indexing to improve the performance of data management in tabular format. This study investigates if the execution times could be decreased by introducing a new engine option for indexing in Hudi. Therefore, the thesis proposes the usage of RonDB as a global index, which is expanded upon by further investigating the viability of different connectors that are available for communication. The research was conducted using both practical experiments and the study of relevant literature. The analysis involved observations made over multiple workloads to document how adequately the solutions can adapt to changes in requirements and types of actions. This thesis recorded the results and visualized them for the convenience of the reader, as well as made them available in a public repository. The conclusions did not coincide with the author’s hypothesis that RonDB would provide the fastest indexing solution for all scenarios. Nonetheless, it was observed to be the most consistent approach, potentially making it the best general-purpose solution. As an example, it was noted, that RonDB is capable of dealing with read and write heavy workloads, whilst consistently providing low query latency independent from the file count. / Lagring och användning av omfattande data är förbryllande frågor, vars lösning har blivit mer pressande med den exponentiella tillväxten av information. Lakehouses är relativt nya metoder som försöker åstadkomma detta samtidigt som de döljer komplexiteten för användaren. De tillhandahåller liknande funktioner som en standarddatabas samtidigt som de fungerar på toppen av lågkostnadslagring och öppna filformat. Ett exempel på ett sådant system är Hudi, som internt använder indexering för att förbättra prestandan för datahantering i tabellformat. Denna studie undersöker om exekveringstiderna kan minskas genom att införa ett nytt motoralternativ för indexering i Hudi. Därför föreslår avhandlingen användningen av RonDB som ett globalt index, vilket utökas genom att ytterligare undersöka lönsamheten hos olika kontakter som är tillgängliga för kommunikation. Forskningen genomfördes med både praktiska experiment och studie av relevant litteratur. Analysen involverade observationer som gjorts över flera arbetsbelastningar för att dokumentera hur adekvat lösningarna kan anpassas till förändringar i krav och typer av åtgärder. Denna avhandling registrerade resultaten och visualiserade dem för att underlätta för läsaren, samt gjorde dem tillgängliga i ett offentligt arkiv. Slutsatserna sammanföll inte med författarnas hypotes att RonDB skulle tillhandahålla den snabbaste indexeringslösningen för alla scenarier. Icke desto mindre ansågs det vara det mest konsekventa tillvägagångssättet, vilket potentiellt gör det till den bästa generella lösningen. Som ett exempel noterades att RonDB är kapabel att hantera läs- och skrivbelastningar, samtidigt som det konsekvent tillhandahåller låg frågelatens oberoende av filantalet.

Bakgrund: Butiksstölder är ett utbrett samhällsproblem som drabbar många butiker inom detaljhandeln. Butikscheferna behöver hantera detta på något sätt i deras ledarskap. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka berättelser butikschefer förmedlar om sitt ledarskap avseende stöld, samt hur ledarskapet kan bidra till att förebygga butiksstölder. Frågeställningarna är 1) Vilka berättelser förmedlar butikschefer om sitt ledarskap avseende butiksstölder? samt 2) Hur kan ledarskapet bidra till att förebygga och förhindra butiksstölder? Teori: Den teoretiska referensramen innehåller tidigare forskning om ledarskap, tidigare forskning om butikschefer samt tidigare forskning om externa butiksstölder. Metod: Undersökningen genomfördes med kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer utifrån ett urval på sju butikschefer inom dagligvaruhandeln. Intervjuerna har varit fokuserade på butikschefers berättelser om butiksstölder, för att ta reda på hur de arbetar för att förhindra stölder samt vad som är viktigast för att förhindra stölder. Resultat: Butikscheferna förmedlade berättelser om att försöka förebygga och förhindra butiksstölder. I berättelserna framkom arbetsmetoder som säkerhet, bedömning och proaktiva tillvägagångssätt. Det framkom också ledarskap och lärande som handlar om kompetens och värderingar. Resultatet visar att kunskap om konsumentbeteende är av stor vikt för att förhindra butiksstölder. Resultatet visar också att butikschefers värderingar av det stöldförebyggande arbetet skiljer sig åt, samt att värderingar kan vara kopplade till ett mer lärande ledarskap. Slutsats: Slutsatsen är att butikschefer kan bidra till att förhindra stölder genom proaktiva tillvägagångssätt samt genom att ha kompetenta medarbetare med god kunskap om konsumentbeteende. Butikschefen präglar sannolikt medarbetarna med sina värderingar och signalerar därmed hur viktigt eller oviktigt det är att förhindra butiksstölder. / Background: Shoplifting is a widespread social problem that affects many stores in retail. The store managers need to manage these problems from their leadership. Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate which stories store managers mediate about their leadership about shoplifting, and how the leadership can contribute to prevent shoplifting. The research questions are 1) Which stories do store managers mediate about their leadership regarding shoplifting? 2) How can leadership contribute to prevent shoplifting? Theory: The theoretical framework includes previous research about leadership, previous research about store managers and previous research about shoplifting. Method: The research has been completed with qualitative semi-structured interviews from a selection with seven store managers within retail. The interviews have been focused on store managers' stories of shoplifting, to find out how they work to prevent shoplifting and what is most important to prevent. Results: The store managers mediated stories about trying to prevent shoplifting. The stories even showed working methods like safety, estimation and proactive approaches. The stories even appeared about leadership and learning, that is about competence and values. The results show that knowledge about consumer behavior is important to prevent shoplifting. The results also show that store managers' values about the work to prevent shoplifting is different, and values can be connected to a learning leadership. Conclusion: The conclusion is that store managers can contribute to prevent shoplifting within proactive approaches and have competent employees with knowledge about consumer behavior. The store manager probably influences the employees with their values and signals if preventing work is important.

在數位內容下載市場蓬勃發展的同時，非法傳輸的流量亦不惶多讓，是以DRM機制成為了著作權利人進入網路世界的絕佳後盾，以DRM提高複製的門檻，並據以實施其商業模式，故於各數位內容核心產業皆可見DRM應用之蹤跡，卻同時引發了究竟DRM是Digital “Rights” Management 亦或Digital “Restriction” Management的爭議。是天使？或是惡魔？便形成了人們對於DRM的不同觀感。 本研究係從技術、法律以及管理三個面向分別切入，由技術面看DRM保護著作物之極限何在，由法律面看相關科技保護措施之立法造成何種影響，合理使用的空間是否因DRM之實施而造成限縮，接著由管理面向看DRM在數位內容產業價值鏈中所扮演之角色及其與價值鏈上各端權力角力衝突之關係，最後由標準面看目前DRM相關標準的運作以及互通性標準的發展趨勢。並從個案研究觀察DRM在不同產業情境中的應用。 本研究認為，DRM技術本身是中性的，其關鍵在於商業設計運用。而在盜版問題無法完全根絕之情況下，以DRM作為因應之道將使得受限內容之經濟價值不若自由流通之內容，因為內容產業的發展關鍵在於「人氣」，而盜版永遠無法取代創意與使用者對於內容之需求。因此，既然無法防堵非法傳輸之現象，則不妨與之直接面對面進行作戰，權利人既掌握了關鍵的內容，則可以針對盜版的弱點提供更優質的服務。就我國目前數位內容產業發展之情境來看，現階段或許有採取DRM進行保護的必要性，以便在推動合法消費市場之際，平衡兼顧保護著作權人以及著作利用人之權益。然而，在虛擬世界中欲全面防堵非法散佈有其技術上之侷限性，消費者亦多半養成了免費取得之使用模式與心態，因此長期而言，或許應設法從創新的商業模式來扭轉此態勢。 / Though the use of digital rights management (DRM) has been controversial, it is still widely used in the digital world. Advocates think of DRM as an indispensable way to prevent unauthorized duplication and dissemination of copyrighted works while opponents often suggest that the term “rights” should be replaced by “restriction” to best describe how DRM works. This thesis aims to analyze the issues of DRM from three perspectives. First starting with the technical point of view to see how DRM works and found out that DRM technology does have its limitation for copyright protection. That’s the reason why treaties and legislations such as the WCT, WPPT, and DMCA are needed to build the last ditch in the war with piracy. However, the attempt backfired as companies other than rights holders used it as a way to prevent market competition. As the rights holders can effectively control the access of their work with DRM, there comes another dispute about the “Paracopyright” effect. Most important of all, the use of DRM divests the users of the rights they had in the analog world, such as simply lending a book to a friend. From the perspective of management, a cost benefit analysis indicates that the benefit of using DRM to prevent unauthorized duplication obviously overwhelms by its cost and risk. In the context where the content providers, service providers, and device manufacturers all attempt to dominate the whole value chain, DRM also became one of the most powerful instruments for that purpose. Closed ecosystems are built one after another especially in the online music industry in order to bundle the consumers with specific players and music services and thus caused the antitrust issue. The online music industry and the e-book industry were chosen as case studies in the fourth chapter of the thesis. Based on different industry context, DRM strategy and its impact would differ and therefore results in a variety of business models. For example, the consumers in the US are relatively more aware of the use of DRM and are more willing to pay for authorized content. In contrast, the awareness of DRM of consumers in Taiwan is much lower and the price they are willing to pay is also far lower than what the music labels can accept. As a result, the streaming model prevails over pay-per-download model in the online music market of Taiwan. And the feasibility and necessity of DRM also varies in different industries. Before the digitalization of books, authors already had libraries providing free copies as piracy do today, and the prevalence of scanning machines and copy machines makes it even harder to prevent illegal file sharing. Accordingly, there is far less reason to use DRM in the e-book industry than in the online music industry. DRM technology is neutral in itself, and the key point is how it is designed based on different business models. The defect of DRM is neither a technical nor a legal issue, but rather a business issue. As piracy can never be eradicated, coping it with DRM would only make the value of restricted contents much less than freely distributed contents. Popularity is what really matters in the content industry. DRM has its technical limit and causes so many legal issues accompanied with the cost and risk of maintaining such fragile systems. What rights holders have in hand are the creativity and the market’s need for new content, which could never be replaced by piracy. So why not fight it face to face? Digital content industry is considered one of the most promising industries in Taiwan. However, local consumers have entrenched mindset of “free” contents. In present context, DRM is somehow needed while promoting the growth of legal market, in order to provide sufficient incentive to enrich the society with more and more creativity, and fairly protect both the rights of content providers and content users. But in the long run, a more creative or even subversive business model should be the solution to meet the trend of digital convergence.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Det råder en allmän oro rörande den fysiska butikens framtid. Ett paradigmskifte inom detaljhandeln innebär att den fysiska butiken, för att upprätthålla effektiva och lönsamma affärer, inte längre kan förlita sig på historiskt framgångsrika affärsmodeller och praxis. Istället anses teknik tillsammans med exceptionell service vara två av de viktigaste strategiska faktorerna, vilka kan komma att rädda den fysiska butikens existens. De företag som framgångsrikt lyckas konkurrera via tekniskt levererad service, kommer också långsiktigt att möta efterfrågan hos den digitala kunden. Syfte: Denna masteruppsats syftar till att undersöka vilken effekt som integrering av digitala tekniker i fysisk butik har på kundens upplevelse av butik. Studien ämnar även undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar förhållandet mellan kundens upplevelse av butik och digital teknik. Metod: Syftet uppfylls genom att studera en faktisk butik, där en digital teknik, Near Field Communication (NFC), integrerats. Studien är i den bemärkelsen en fallstudie. Vidare har en experimentell forskningsdesign av kvalitativ karaktär anammats, där den empiriska datan huvudsakligen grundar sig i semistrukturerade konsumentintervjuer. Slutsats: En stor majoritet av respondenterna ansåg att den testade tekniken kunde få dem att handla i fysisk butik oftare. Följaktligen påvisar integrering av digital teknik i fysisk butik en positiv effekt på kundens upplevelse av butik, där integrering och användning av NFC-tekniken möjliggör en höjning av kundens upplevelse. Resultatet påvisar vidare att faktorer som flexibilitet, effektivitet, tillgänglighet, valmöjligheter, bekvämlighet, upplevd tid och energi samt generationstillhörighet påverkar förhållandet mellan kundens upplevelse av butik och digital teknik. / Background and problem discussion: There is a general concern about the future of the physical store. A paradigm shift in retail means that the physical store, in order to maintain efficient and profitable business, can no longer rely on historically successful business models and practices. Instead, technology together with exceptional service is considered to be two of the most important strategic factors, which may save the physical store's existence. Purpose: This master thesis aims to investigate the effect that integration of digital technologies in the physical store have on the customer’s experience of the store. The study also aims to investigate which factors affect the relationship between the customer's experience of the store and digital technology. Method: The purpose is fulfilled by studying one actual store, where one digital technology, Near Field Communication (NFC), has been integrated. In this sense, the study is a case study. Furthermore, an experimental research design of a qualitative nature has been adopted, where the empirical data is mainly based on semi-structured consumer interviews. Conclusion: A large majority of respondents felt that the tested technology could make them shop in a physical store more often. Consequently, the integration of digital technology into the physical store demonstrates a positive effect on the customer's experience of the store, where integration and use of the NFC technology enables an increase in the customer's experience. The result also shows that factors such as flexibility, efficiency, availability, IV choice, convenience, perceived time and energy and generation affiliation affect the relationship between the customer's experience and digital technology.

Decision making for fast-moving consumer goods involves a choice between numerous similar alternatives. Under such demanding circumstances, a decision is made for one product. The decision is dependent on the interaction between the environment and the mind of the consumer, both of which are filled with information that can influence the outcome. The aim of this dissertation is to explore how the mind and the environment guides attention towards considered and chosen products in consumer decision making at the point-of-purchase. Consumers are equipped with several effort reduction strategies to simplify complex decision making. The selection of strategies can be conscious or automatic and driven by information in the environment or the mind of the decision maker. The selected decision strategy reduces the set of options to one alternative in an iterative process of comparisons that are fast and rely on perceptual cues to quickly exclude irrelevant products. This thesis uses eye-tracking to explore this rapid processing that lacks conscious access or control. The purpose is to explore how product packaging and placement (as in-store factors), and recognition, preferences, and choice task (as out-of-store factors) influence the decision-making process through visual attention. The results of the 10 experiments in the five papers that comprise this thesis shed new light on the role of visual attention in the interaction between the environment and the mind, and its influence on the consumer. It is said that consumers choose with their eyes, which means that unseen is unsold. The results of this thesis show that it is just as important to be comprehended as it is to be seen. In split-second decision making, the ability to recognize and comprehend a product can significantly impact preferences. Comprehension stretches beyond perception as consumers infer value from memory structures that influence attention. Hence, the eye truly sees what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

Dans le secteur des soins de santé, les données d'images médicales toujours croissantes, le développement de technologies d'imagerie, la conservation à long terme des données médicales et l'augmentation de la résolution des images entraînent une croissance considérable du volume de données. En outre, la variété des dispositifs d'acquisition et la différence de préférences des médecins ou d'autres professionnels de la santé ont conduit à une grande variété de données. Bien que la norme DICOM (Digital Imaging et Communication in Medicine) soit aujourd'hui largement adoptée pour stocker et transférer les données médicales, les données DICOM ont toujours les caractéristiques 3V du Big Data: volume élevé, grande variété et grande vélocité. En outre, il existe une variété de charges de travail, notamment le traitement transactionnel en ligne (en anglais Online Transaction Processing, abrégé en OLTP), le traitement analytique en ligne (anglais Online Analytical Processing, abrégé en OLAP) et les charges de travail mixtes. Les systèmes existants ont des limites concernant ces caractéristiques des données et des charges de travail. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons de nouvelles méthodes efficaces pour stocker et interroger des données DICOM. Nous proposons un modèle de stockage hybride des magasins de lignes et de colonnes, appelé HYTORMO, ainsi que des stratégies de stockage de données et de traitement des requêtes. Tout d'abord, HYTORMO est conçu et mis en œuvre pour être déployé sur un environnement à grande échelle afin de permettre la gestion de grandes données médicales. Deuxièmement, la stratégie de stockage de données combine l'utilisation du partitionnement vertical et un stockage hybride pour créer des configurations de stockage de données qui peuvent réduire la demande d'espace de stockage et augmenter les performances de la charge de travail. Pour réaliser une telle configuration de stockage de données, l'une des deux approches de conception de stockage de données peut être appliquée: (1) conception basée sur des experts et (2) conception automatisée. Dans la première approche, les experts créent manuellement des configurations de stockage de données en regroupant les attributs des données DICOM et en sélectionnant une disposition de stockage de données appropriée pour chaque groupe de colonnes. Dans la dernière approche, nous proposons un cadre de conception automatisé hybride, appelé HADF. HADF dépend des mesures de similarité (entre attributs) qui prennent en compte les impacts des informations spécifiques à la charge de travail et aux données pour générer automatiquement les configurations de stockage de données: Hybrid Similarity (combinaison pondérée de similarité d'accès d'attribut et de similarité de densité d'attribut) les attributs dans les groupes de colonnes; Inter-Cluster Access Similarity est utilisé pour déterminer si deux groupes de colonnes seront fusionnés ou non (pour réduire le nombre de jointures supplémentaires); et Intra-Cluster Access La similarité est appliquée pour décider si un groupe de colonnes sera stocké dans une ligne ou un magasin de colonnes. Enfin, nous proposons une stratégie de traitement des requêtes adaptée et efficace construite sur HYTORMO. Il considère l'utilisation des jointures internes et des jointures externes gauche pour empêcher la perte de données si vous utilisez uniquement des jointures internes entre des tables partitionnées verticalement. De plus, une intersection de filtres Bloom (intersection of Bloom filters, abrégé en ) est appliqué pour supprimer les données non pertinentes des tables d'entrée des opérations de jointure; cela permet de réduire les coûts d'E / S réseau. (...) / In the health care industry, the ever-increasing medical image data, the development of imaging technologies, the long-term retention of medical data and the increase of image resolution are causing a tremendous growth in data volume. In addition, the variety of acquisition devices and the difference in preferences of physicians or other health-care professionals have led to a high variety in data. Although today DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) standard has been widely adopted to store and transfer the medical data, DICOM data still has the 3Vs characteristics of Big Data: high volume, high variety and high velocity. Besides, there is a variety of workloads including Online Transaction Processing (OLTP), Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and mixed workloads. Existing systems have limitations dealing with these characteristics of data and workloads. In this thesis, we propose new efficient methods for storing and querying DICOM data. We propose a hybrid storage model of row and column stores, called HYTORMO, together with data storage and query processing strategies. First, HYTORMO is designed and implemented to be deployed on large-scale environment to make it possible to manage big medical data. Second, the data storage strategy combines the use of vertical partitioning and a hybrid store to create data storage configurations that can reduce storage space demand and increase workload performance. To achieve such a data storage configuration, one of two data storage design approaches can be applied: (1) expert-based design and (2) automated design. In the former approach, experts manually create data storage configurations by grouping attributes and selecting a suitable data layout for each column group. In the latter approach, we propose a hybrid automated design framework, called HADF. HADF depends on similarity measures (between attributes) that can take into consideration the combined impact of both workload- and data-specific information to generate data storage configurations: Hybrid Similarity (a weighted combination of Attribute Access and Density Similarity measures) is used to group the attributes into column groups; Inter-Cluster Access Similarity is used to determine whether two column groups will be merged together or not (to reduce the number of joins); and Intra-Cluster Access Similarity is applied to decide whether a column group will be stored in a row or a column store. Finally, we propose a suitable and efficient query processing strategy built on top of HYTORMO. It considers the use of both inner joins and left-outer joins. Furthermore, an Intersection Bloom filter () is applied to reduce network I/O cost.We provide experimental evaluations to validate the benefits of the proposed methods over real DICOM datasets. Experimental results show that the mixed use of both row and column stores outperforms a pure row store and a pure column store. The combined impact of both workload-and data-specific information is helpful for HADF to be able to produce good data storage configurations. Moreover, the query processing strategy with the use of the can improve the execution time of an experimental query up to 50% when compared to the case where no is applied.

Denna studie är en undersökning om hur Covid-19 pandemin har förändrat kundupplevelsehantering för svensk hemelektronikhandel. Vidare undersöks hur svenska hemelektronikföretag och konsumenter svarat och agerat på dessa förändringar. Forskningen har använt triangulerande datainsamlingsmetoder. Kvantitativ data har samlats in genom enkätundersökningar med konsumenter. Kvalitativ data har samlats in från intervjuer med representanter på svenska hemelektronikföretag. Studien ägde rum under Covid-19 pandemin och utfördes därmed på distans med hjälp av digitala verktyg. Studiens resultat tyder på att Covid-19 pandemin lett till ett hopp på tre år i utvecklingen av handeln inom hemelektronik och därmed bidragit med en övergång från interaktion via fysiska butiker till digitala kanaler. Företag inom hemelektronik har även fokuserat mindre på hur konkurrenter agerat och mer på vad konsumenter efterfrågar. Detta har lett till utveckling av nya kanaler och helt nya sätt att interagera med kunder. De nya kanalerna integrerar mänsklig natur i dess interaktion genom video samt direkt kommunikation mellan kund och anställd. Kunder är mer nöjda med deras upplevelser hos företagen under pandemin än innan pandemin och företagen förutspås fortsätta i den utveckling pandemin bidragit till. / This study investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed customer experience management for the Swedish consumer electronics trade. It also examines how Swedish consumer electronics companies and consumers have responded and acted on these changes. The research has used triangulating data collection methods. Quantitative data have been collected through surveys with consumers. Qualitative data have been collected from interviews with representatives of Swedish consumer electronics companies. The study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and was thus carried out remotely using digital tools. The results of the study indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a three-year jump in the development of trade in consumer electronics and thus contributed to a transition from interaction via physical stores to digital touchpoints. Home electronics companies have also focused less on how competitors have acted and more on what consumers demand. This has led to the development of new touchpoints and completely new ways of interacting with customers. The new touchpoints integrate human nature in its interaction through video and direct communication between customer and employee. Customers are more satisfied with their experiences with companies during the pandemic than before the pandemic and the companies are predicted to continue in the development the pandemic has contributed to.

I skuggan av den ökande svenska elektroniska detaljhandeln står en fysisk butikshandel inom mode på sin bristningsgräns. När allt fler konsumenter väljer att konsumera mode genom den digitala världen så kan det få förödande konsekvenser för den fysiska modebutikshandeln. Som ett samlingsbegrepp kring den trend där butiksägare inte längre klarar av att finansiera sina butiker har ordet ‘butiksdöd’ använts. Pandemin Covid-19 har snabbspolat detta fenomen, men studiens respondenter menar att det inte finns en butiksdöd utan att det är den fysiska modebutikshandeln som håller på att moderniseras. Uppsatsen studerar butiksdöden ur ett svenskt modebutiksperspektiv och utforskar hur svenska fysiska modebutiker kartlägger olika värden för att skapa konkurrenskraft. Studien grundas i teorier som tydligt relaterar till konceptutveckling av fysiska modebutiker. Den första teorin är Customer value proposition för att sedan integrera nästkommande teori om utilitaristiska och hedoniska handelsmotivationer. Tredje teorin utgår från kundupplevelse baserat på purpose, priorities och pursuits. Tidigare forskning riktar fokus på hur den fysiska handeln överlag kan applicera CVP, utilitarism och hedonism för att skapa mervärde för modebutiken. Forskningen brister däremot i hur valda teorier i kombination med kundupplevelsen ser ut i svensk butikskontext från ett managementperspektiv, vilket denna studie belyst. Analysresultatet är baserat på ett urval av svenska klädvarumärken som bedriver fysiska butik. En kvalitativ studie har utförts med företagsägare, ledningspersonal samt butiksägare vars svar analyserats för att få svar på uppsatsens syfte. Den insamlade datan från intervjuerna presenteras med utgångspunkt hur respondenterna ser på modeindustrin i dagsläget, men även hur den kommer att utvecklas framöver. Analysresultatet presenterar stegvis en modell utefter nämnda teorier kring hur en modebutik kan omdefiniera eller förstärka konceptets värdegrund, i syfte att skapa hållbar konkurrenskraft. Två grupper baserat på butikskoncept utformades utifrån analysresultatet, varav den ena behållit konkurrenskraft och andra upplevt sämre konkurrenskraft. Grupperna har blivit tilldelade namn som representerar butikens position, De moderna och De traditionella. Resultatet redogör därefter vad som kan tänkas ligga till grund för upptäckten. I uppsatsens diskussion presenteras resultatet från analysen samt aktiviteter som modebutiker inom fysisk modebutikshandel kan tillämpa för att förstärka sin konkurrenskraft gentemot e-handeln. Slutatsen påvisar att många respondenter påverkats av butiksdöden. De moderna som ej upplever butiksdöden arbetar frekvent med aktiviteter och upplevelser medan De traditionella arbetar utefter att minska kundens uppoffring genom effektivisering av inköp. Butiker som blivit påverkade bör därmed prioritera om butikens erbjudande och granska vad som lämpas bäst efter konceptets värdegrund. Studien hoppas att bidra med kunskap till fysiska modebutiksaktörer för att konkurrenskraft gentemot elektroniska detaljhandeln. / E-commerce is continuing the path of exponential growth, however it also entails consequences in the retail market. When customers prioritize e-commerce rather than fashion retail shopping, an increasing number of brick-and-mortar stores are closing. The global pandemic Covid-19 has effectively speeded up the pace regarding the phenomenon, though some believe it’s a hoax. This study aims to bring the truth of this phenomenon to light from a swedish fashion retail perspective. The study of fashion retail stores includes efforts taken to maintain competitive advantage. This is accomplished through established theories which have an indirect impact on retail fashion stores ability to maintain competitive advantage. These theories are Customer value proposition, hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations and customer experience based on 3Ps, which includes purpose, priorities and pursuits. Previous research shows how these theories can be applied in retail stores, however none of them use an approach of a management perspective, which this study aims to do. The method that is used in this study is based on a qualitative research method, using semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interviews were held individually with thoroughly chosen candidates with competences in the field, such as business owners and managers of a fashion retail store. Throughout the chapter regarding the results, a model is introduced step by step which purpose is to bring additional knowledge to retailers, in hopes that it will increase their competitive advantage. Additionally, two camps were introduced. One who had maintained its competitive advantage and the other who has been affected by the phenomenon and lost its competitive advantage. In the discussion, the results are presented and activities as well as physical experiences retailers can implement are suggested. In conclusion, it is clear that there are two sides. One side has been affected by the phenomenon and lost its competitive advantage, and the other side who has maintained its competitive advantage thanks to activities, retail experiences and a loyal community. Those retailers who were affected the most should therefore redefine their business as to whether they should go online or redesign their retail store concept, in order to achieve sustained competitive advantage. The study aims to contribute with knowledge retailers can use in order to strengthen or redefine their competitive advantage against e-commerce.

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English / Suid-Afrika het ongekende verstedeliking ervaar en agtergeblewe verbruikers het hulle in gebiede in en om stede gevestig. Steeds toenemende verstedeliking veroorsaak enersyds probleme aangesien basiese infrastruktuurvoorsiening (elektrisiteit, water, en riool) ontbreek. Andersyds laat die afwesigheid van formele kleinhandelsfasiliteite in die agtergeblewe gebiede die vraag ontstaan wat hierdie verbruikers se behoefte aan afsetpunte behels. 'n Ewekansige-waarskynlikheidsnavorsingstudie met 'n steekproef van 300 huishoudings, 'n vraelys, en persoonlike onderhoude is onderneem om die agtergeblewe verbruikers in die Soshanguve gebied se behoeftes na kleinhandelsafsetpunte te bepaal. Die bevinding is dat die meeste verbruikers buite hul woongebied werksaam is, 'n gemiddelde inkomste van tot R2 000 per maand verdien, en dat taxi's die hoofvervoermiddel is. Kleinhandelsaankope word hoofsaaklik in Pretoria en Mabopane gedoen. Daar bestaan wel 'n behoefte na formele kleinhandelsafsetpunte, veral vir bederfbare produkte en kruideniersware soos voorsien deur bekende kleinhandelsintellings soos die OK Bazaars. Die ondersoek bevestig dat Soshanguve kleinhandelsbeleggingsgeleenthede bied vir verskeie kleinhandelsfasiliteite. / South-Africa experienced unknown urbanisation and disadvantaged consumers flocked to the cities. Continuous urbanisation causes infrastructural problems such as a lack of electricity, water, and sewerage facilities. The absence of formal retail outlets in these areas poses the question what retailing needs these consumers do have. A simple random probability research study with a sample of 300 households, a questionnaire, and personal interviews was used to determine the disadvantaged consumers' needs for retail outlets in the Soshanguve area. The results indicate that most consumers work outside Soshanguve, earn an average of up to R2 000 per month, and use taxi's as a means of transportation. Retail purchases are made in Pretoria and Mabopane. There is a definite need for formal retail outlets, especially for perishables and groceries as provided by retailers such as OK Bazaars. The research confirms that there are retail investment opportunities in Soshanguve for the establishment of various retail facilities. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

本論文探討台北市連鎖式便利商店的市場進入決策。研究發現在便利商店的產業裡，相較於多重市場接觸(亦即是否已同時出現在其他市場)的考量，與競爭對手門市的距離對廠商的進入決策有較大的影響。此外，上期競爭對手存在與否，也是廠商是否進入該市場的重要衡量依據。大型連鎖店會進入前一期競爭較激烈的市場，這些市場競爭對手的門市已有一家以上；而小型連鎖店通常不會依據對手的門市數目來決定其進入的決策。最後，利用不同的落後期變數設定，本文發現廠商的進入決策具有一致性。這表示在台北市，便利商店已經是相當成熟的產業了。 / In this paper we study entry decisions of the convenience store chains in Taipei. We find that the distance between store pairs is more relevant to firms' entry decisions than the multimarket contact (i.e., firms encounter each other in multiple markets) in this industry. In addition, the presence of a firm's rivals in the previous period plays an important role in the entry decision. The large convenience store chains are more likely to enter more competitive markets, such as markets consisting of more than one rivals' store. On the other hand, the small chains are indifferent to their rivals' presence when making their entry decisions. Lastly, firms' entry decisions are consistent when different measurements of lagged variables are used. We interpret that the convenience store industry may have reached a stable state in Taipei.