Diss. St. Gallen, 2006 ; Nr. 3229. / Literaturverz.

Zugl.: Giessen, University, Diss., 2006.

Enforcing and communicating sustainability is one of the biggest challenges for retailers in today’s business environment. Retailers are facing pressure from various stakeholders since the topic of sustainability is constantly moving up the agendas of companies, politics, and the media. Additionally, it is intensely discussed by a critical public. This dissertation consists of three related studies – one conceptual study and two research studies – that analyze sustainable behavior, reporting and communication in grocery retailing in Germany. In particular, sustainable behavior is compared across different retail formats. In the first study, the business model of grocery discounters and supermarkets is compared with respect to the impact on sustainability. The cost-leadership strategy applied by discounters is analyzed regarding its influence on strong and weak sustainability. The second article focuses on supermarkets, discounters and organic supermarkets. Based on the sustainability reports it is examined which information is disclosed and which legitimation strategies are applied if negative impacts have to be reported. The analysis revealed that, even within the same industry and country, a wide range with respect to quality levels of sustainability reporting exists. Furthermore, all retailers are reluctant about reporting negative aspects and frequently use similar legitimation strategies. The third article deals with communication of sustainability of both supermarkets and discounters comparing sustainability reporting and communication in the stores. It is shown that no clear difference between sustainability reporting of discounters and supermarkets was observable. However, supermarkets outperformed discounters with respect to in-store communication.:I. Sustainable Retailing – German Grocery Retailers and their Challenge of Communicating Sustainability 1 Introduction 1.1 Relevance and development of sustainability in academic research 1.2 Practically relevance 2 The entire Research Project 2.1 Related research, research questions and research objectives 2.2 Classification within related research streams 2.3 Overview publication status 3 Article Summary 3.1 Summary Article A: Discount Grocery Retailing: Cost-Leadership-Strategy versus Sustainability – Does it fit together? 3.2 Summary Article B: Sustainable Grocery Retailing: Myth or Reality? – A Content Analysis 3.3 Summary Article C: How do Supermarkets and Discounters communicate about Sustainability? – A comparative Analysis of Sustainability Reports and In-Store Communication 4 Dissertation Results, Contribution and Implications 5 Limitations and Future Research 6 Outlook 7 References II. Article A: Discount Grocery Retailing: Cost-Leadership-Strategy versus Sustainability – Does it fit together? 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 2.1 Grocery discounters and traditional supermarkets 2.2 Cost-leadership-strategy and lean management within economic sustainability 2.3 The concept of “strong” and “weak” sustainability within sustainability research 3 Research Design 3.1 Research method 3.2 Analytical approach 4 Findings 4.1 Procurement and supply chain 4.2 Logistics and transportation 4.3 Store concepts and store design 4.4 Energy consumption and environment 5 Discussion and Analysis 5.1 “Strong sustainability” 5.2 “Weak sustainability” 5.3 Cost-leadership strategy contradicting sustainability 6 Conclusion, Limitations and Future Research 7 References III. Article B: Sustainable Grocery Retailing: Myth or Reality? – A Content Analysis 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Research Design 3.1 Research method and data collection 3.2 Analytical approach 4 Findings 4.1 General characteristics 4.2 Sustainability focus areas and coverage of GRI standards 4.3 Analysis of legitimating strategies 5 Discussion 5.1 Evaluation of sustainable reporting quality (RQ 1 and RQ 3) 5.2 Evaluation of reporting “negative aspects” for focus areas (RQ 2 and RQ3) 6 Conclusion 7 References IV. Article C: How do Supermarkets and Discounters communicate about Sustainability? A comparative Analysis of Sustainability Reports and In-Store Communication 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 2.1 The challenge of sustainability from the retailer perspective 2.2 Extant research about sustainability communication by retailers 3 Research Design 3.1 Research method and data collection 3.2 Analytical approach 4 Findings 4.1 General characteristics and readability analysis 4.2 Readability analysis 4.3 Identification and comparison of available data 4.4 Store observations 5 Discussion 5.1 Comparison of the sustainability communication between supermarkets and discounters (RQ1) 5.2 Comparison of results from different research approaches (RQ2) 6 Conclusion 7 References

Der Bericht gibt die Ergebnisse einer Befragung von 40 Einzelhändlern in Sachsen wieder. Er zeigt deren Bedarf an bio- und regionalen Lebensmitteln. Adressaten sind direktvermarktende Landwirte, Lebensmittelhersteller sowie deren Berater und Organisationen. Redaktionsschluss: 31.07.2022

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.