The phenomenon of psychic distance has been thoroughly researched regarding its influence on the internationalization patterns of firms into foreign markets. Psychic distance has been determined by a plethora of existing literature as an inhibitor to trade; however, much of this research only takes on the perspective of the firm. The construct of psychic distance has primarily been examined on the supply side, while a lack of literature exists examining the impact of psychic distance from the consumer’s perspective. Furthermore, the academic world has devoted little attention to applying the psychic distance construct to e-commerce, especially in terms of retail. Due to the continuously rising significance of e-commerce, especially in terms of cross-border retail, understanding the way in which consumers perceive foreign international online vendors (IOVs) is essential to business success. This thesis contributes to the existing research regarding psychic distance, by seeking to answer the following research questions: "How do varying levels of perceived psychic distance impact the online purchasing behaviors of consumers?" and "How does the impact of perceived psychic distance on purchasing behaviors vary based on consumer’s nationality?". To answer these questions, empirical data is collected through the conduct of five focus groups of varying nationalities, each either containing consumers of French, German, Swedish, Russian or Chinese nationality. The analysis of empirical data is built upon a theoretical foundation using the conceptualization of distance defined by Dow & Karunaratna (2006), consumer nationality and retailer country of origin (COO). The findings of this thesis conclude that perceived psychic distance likely has somewhat of an influence on consumer online purchasing behaviors. However, factors such as development level of retailer COO, retailer COO familiarity, development level of consumer nationality, and consumer ethnocentrism have more measurable impacts on the purchasing behaviors of consumers in the online retail context.

Within the retail sector, two sections have grown drastically with the help of each other in the past decade. Those two sections include online retail and second-hand retail. Online retail has grown remarkably due to the implementation of online atmospherics. This phenomenon led to the purpose of this study: to observe the online atmospherics present in online second-hand retail. To achieve this purpose, the literature related to online retail, target audience, motivations of consumers, reselling, and online second-hand apps was explored. For this study, five online second-hand retail sites were chosen. Eighteen of the most common online atmospherics were observed to be present, not present, or unable to determine in these online second-hand retail sites. Results showed notable findings including the importance of white space. Based upon the results of this study, managerial implications are offered.

Marketing executives of traditional retail firms who lack strategies to expand e-commerce business, can experience inhibited growth, higher transaction costs, and a loss of competitive advantage. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore marketing strategies that marketing executives of a traditional retail firm used to improve online sales. Eight purposefully selected marketing executives in the head offices of a large traditional retail business in South Africa who had implemented effective marketing strategies to improve online sales participated in the study. Social exchange theory was the conceptual framework for the study. The data collection process entailed face-to-face semistructured interviews and review of company and industry-specific documentation. Data were coded and analyzed to identify emergent themes: the use of customer relationship management to drive marketing strategies; positive exchange relationships that are primarily measured in economic and benefit-orientated terms; trust that relies on safety, security, and privacy of transactions; and reciprocity in the relationship that is facilitated through electronic word of mouth and social media. The implications for positive social change from increased profitability include increased employment opportunities in the local community, improved working conditions and benefits for employees, and increased charitable contributions locally, thereby improving the quality of life for employees and the community.

This paper studies the relationship between e-commerce diffusion and number of local establishments in the Nordic regions. The analysis is built upon a model which specifies an industry model with consumers search costs buying from heterogenous producers by Goldmanis et al (2010).  E-commerce technology features, such as price comparison websites, have dramatically lowered consumers’ search costs in the online market. Regressions will be tested on the retail sale of three different sectors: food and tobacco, information and communication equipment, and cultural and recreation goods sectors. The results will be compared to the total retail sale sector, and towards the online-only retail sector. Many jobs are on the line if the trend continues to close down local retail stores, and this paper will give an update on where the number of local retail establishments are heading for both policymakers and firm management. / Den här studien undersöker sambandet mellan e-handels påverkan på antal lokala varuhandel butiker i nordiska regionen. Analysen bygger på en modell som specificerar konsumenters sökkostnader inom en industri som köper från heterogena producenter av Goldmanis (2010). Prisjämförelse hemsidor har drastiskt sänkt konsumenters sökkostnader efter det lägsta priset för en given vara inom e-handel. För att undersöka hur lokala butiker har påverkats kommer regressioner att genomföras för att testa sambandet mellan ökad e-handel och antalet lokala butiker inom industrierna mat och tobaks, IT och kultur. Resultaten kommer att jämföras med den totala handeln för all varuförsäljning, samt mot e-handeln. Många jobb kan komma att försvinna inom en snar framtid om trenden hos företag fortsätter att stänga lokala butiker. Den här studien kommer att ge en uppdaterad bild hur det ser ut för antalet lokala butiker i den nordiska regionen som kommer att vara användbart för beslutsfattare och ledningen inom företag som verkar inom varuhandel.

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Aim The aim of the study is to test the relationship between augmented reality and the Swedish millennials’ purchase intention of shopping goods. Methods A survey was distributed online to Swedish millennials (born between the years of 1982 and 2000). Non-probability sampling was conducted in order to collect primary data by making use of convenience and snowball sampling. A total amount of 408 valid responses were collected which were analysed by correlation, linear regression and moderation regression analyses. Results The variables related to augmented reality (product perception, risk perception, augmented reality experience, hedonic experience and utilitarian experience) were found to be significantly related to the consumers’ purchase intention. The relationship between product perception and purchase intention was found to be moderated by the online experience with augmented reality. However, no proof was found that perceived risk when shopping online is moderated by using augmented reality. Conclusion Augmented reality can be used as a tool to enhance the consumers’ perception of the offered product and therewith raise the online purchase intention of Swedish millennials for shopping goods. The efficiency and informative aspects that augmented reality can provide are especially appreciated. Therefore, this study can recommend online retailers to introduce an augmented reality strategy in order to raise Swedish millennials’ purchase intention of shopping goods and therewith increase the sales numbers.

Diplomová práce se zabývá návrhem marketingové strategie pro vstup internetového obchodu Alza.cz a.s. na zahraniční, konkrétně polský trh. Návrh je reakcí na dominantní postavení internetového obchodu Alza.cz na českém trhu a snaží se najít cestu k dalšímu rozvoji společnosti. V práci je pomocí analýz vyhodnoceno jak interní, tak i externí prostředí organizace. Finální návrh řešení čerpá především z uvedených analýz, navrhuje kroky které by organizace měla podniknout aby na zahraniční trh úspěšně vstoupila a obsahuje i zjednodušený finanční plán pro první rok působení firmy na trhu.

In the context of providing credit online to customers in retail shops, the provider must perform risk assessments quickly and often based on scarce historical data. This can be achieved by automating the process with Machine Learning algorithms. Gradient Boosting Tree algorithms have demonstrated to be capable in a wide range of application scenarios. However, they are yet to be implemented for predicting the profitability of new customers based solely on the customers’ first purchases. This study aims to evaluate the predictive performance of the XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost algorithms in this context. The Recall and Precision metrics were used as the basis for assessing the models’ performance. The experiment implemented for this study shows that the model displays similar capabilities while also being biased towards the majority class.

This master thesis critically examines how new technology, AI, is influencing industry competition as viewed through the Porter’s Five Forces Framework for online retailers. It does this through a qualitative inquiry with seven expert interviews and a literature review focused on foundational papers, as well as more recent critiques of the Porter’s Five Forces Framework. Recent reports on the impact of AI is also examined. The thesis finds that several of Porter’s suggestions for the Five Framework are echoed by the interviewees, and the Forces appear to be relevant to consider for an online retailer considering the impact of AI. However, interviewees suggest the potential impact of network effects and fluidity between industries goes beyond what Porter indicated in his original study, thereby potentially influencing the extent to which one can solely rely on the Porter’s Five Forces Framework to support strategic decision making.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo central investigar fatores que moderam a relação entre satisfação pós-recuperação e intenção de recompra no varejo online. Mais especificamente, esta pesquisa visa analisar se os construtos qualidade do relacionamento, resistência à mudança e motivo inferido moderam a relação entre satisfação com o gerenciamento de reclamações e intenção de recompra no varejo online. Para verificar tais moderações, inicialmente foi realizada a etapa exploratória de pesquisa, na qual, por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, evidenciou-se que as variáveis propostas poderiam moderar a relação entre a variável independente e dependente desta dissertação, bem como foi adicionado o construto valor econômico como possível moderador da relação entre satisfação pós-reclamação e intenção de recompra. Em seguida, para testar as hipóteses propostas foi aplicada uma survey junto a consumidores norte-americanos (N=500), operacionalizada com auxílio do Qualtrics, via Mechanical Turk. Como resultado dos testes, tem-se que a qualidade do relacionamento, o motivo inferido e a percepção de valor econômico moderam a relação entre satisfação pós-recuperação e intenção de recompra no varejo online, ou seja, podem explicar, em partes, a não linearidade da relação entre a variável independente e dependente desta pesquisa. Destaca-se ainda que as dimensões da qualidade do relacionamento (a saber: satisfação, confiança e comprometimento) sugeridas neste estudo também moderaram, individualmente, a relação entre a variável independente e dependente desta pesquisa. Sendo assim, esta dissertação contribuiu para a literatura de Marketing e comércio eletrônico ao evidenciar que tanto a qualidade do relacionamento, bem como as dimensões de satisfação, confiança e comprometimento moderam a relação entre satisfação com o gerenciamento de reclamações e intenção de recompra. Além disso, evidencia-se que a elevada percepção de valor econômico, e os motivos inferidos pelos clientes (se positivos), diante da falha inicial ocorrida, também podem sinalizar intenções de recompra dos consumidores junto a sites varejistas. / This dissertation aims to investigate factors that moderate the relationship between satisfaction with complaint handling and repurchase intention in online retail. More specifically, this research aims to examine whether the quality of the relationship constructs, resistance to change and inferred motive moderate the relationship between satisfaction with complaint handling and repurchase intention in online retail. To test such moderations, was taken an exploratory research stage through in-depth interviews in which it became clear that the proposed constructs could moderate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables of this dissertation, as well as the variable economic value was added as a possible moderator of the relationships between satisfaction with complaint handling and repurchase intention. Then, to test the hypotheses was applied a survey with online consumers (N=500) from United States, through Qualtrics and Mechanical Turk. The results indicate that the relationship quality, the inferred motive and the perceived economic value moderated the relationship between satisfaction with complaint handling and repurchase intention in online retail. It is emphasized that the dimensions of relationship quality (satisfaction, trust and commitment) suggested in this study also moderated, in an individual way, the relationship between the independent and dependent variables of this study. Thus, this dissertation has contributed to the literature of marketing and e-commerce by showing that both the relationship quality as well as the dimensions (satisfaction, trust and commitment) moderate the relationship between satisfaction with complaint handling and repurchase intention. Furthermore, it is evident that the high perceived economic value, and the motive inferred by customers (if positive), facing the initial failure occurred, can also indicate repurchase intentions of consumers with online retailers.