This study investigates the consumers' intention towards Internet shopping. The Theory of Planned Behavior is used to predict behavioral intention (BI), which is a function of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC). The effects of demographic and personal variables on BI are also examined. Data analysis (n = 303) indicates that attitude, subjective norm, perceptions of behavioral controls, and previous purchases are significant predictors of behavioral intention. Product/Convenience, Customer Service (attitude factors), Purchase and Delivery, Promotional Offers, Product Attribute (factors of PBC), subjective norm, hours spent online, money spent online, and previous purchases discriminate respondents of high BI from low BI. Behavioral intention of shopping online is highest for Specialty Products followed by Personal, Information Intensive, and Household Products.

Assessment of customer satisfaction with their online shopping experience, including their point of purchase, inventory picking and delivery quality as well as a comparison of their online versus in-store shopping experiences. / To establish an online grocery shopping service and to attract customers to it is an expensive operation. In order to recoup those expenses, and ultimately make a profit, an online retailer needs to ensure that customers remain loyal and make repeat purchases for as long as possible. Although customer satisfaction does not guarantee loyalty, dissatisfied customers generally take their business elsewhere at the first opportunity. This study investigates the overall level of satisfaction amongst a small sample of Woolworths’ online customer base. In pursuit of this, a multi-dimensional model was developed for assessing customer satisfaction in various areas, highlighting those which may require improvement. The impact of certain key demographic data on these dimensions was also investigated. Since satisfaction is not enough to guarantee loyalty, an assessment of the perceived value in making purchases online is also undertaken in an attempt to ascertain purchase intentions. The key findings of this study revealed a relatively high level of customer satisfaction as well as significant perceived value in shopping online when measured against the sacrifices made. However, a main area for improvement is to enhance the customer’s perception of the value they receive. The demographic variables of age, gender and language had no significant impact on any dimension, while the customer’s connection type was found to have a significant impact on their satisfaction pertaining to the performance of the Web site. Finally, it was established that there is a strong association with the Woolworths brand and corporate image, even though the online shopping initiative was launched as a separate brand.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Daniel Andresen / The world is becoming smarter with an increase in efficiency of wireless communication resulting in an accelerated use of smart phones. Open source of Android market gave a chance to individuals to freely develop their own applications which could be run easily on Android smart phones. The purpose of this project is to develop an Android application for managing and tracking a user’s shopping information. The Smart tracker is about tracking the user's purchase of clothes and accessories. The main advantage of this Android app is that it helps to remember the size of clothing purchased. When a user shops at a retail store, he feeds the information pertaining to the fitting of the clothes purchased brand wise, whether it is a correct fit or a bit loose/tight. The data thus entered can be retrieved when he decides to make a purchase in the same store in future. This tremendously decreases the user’s shopping time and makes the experience easier as the right size is already known and hence there is no hassle of using trial rooms to see if the clothes fit. In addition to size, Smart tracker also stores the price at which the item was bought and any additional user comments along with the store location. When data pertaining to a purchased clothing item is entered, the app provides the option to append an image of the item either by capturing a picture through the smart phone’s camera or by uploading an image from the gallery. This helps the user recount the item to which the information corresponds. Another important feature is that tracking of purchases for a family can be personalized, i.e., the shopping information of each family member can be stored separately (especially for kids who can't track their own expense). Additionally, the user can also keep track of money spent on each item/brand/family member. Smart tracker also enables user to create a wish list to remember what they (or a friend) liked but didn't buy in a particular store.

Shopping is part of our every day life. The number of items that people buy is effected by a large number of aspects, including arranging and layout of the goods at the shop. Merchandising, the science about shopping, considers these aspects. Therefore, the thesis itself is focused on merchandising. In the first part of the thesis, there is an explanation of the term, following by theoretical principles for store layout in the most effective way. The practical part considers the analysis of four stores Spotřební družstvo Jednota Volyně, their comparison and evaluation, including highlighting their weak and strong spots. This part also includes some recommendations which could, with the help of merchandising rules, help to improve these stores. This particularly is also the aim of the thesis.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 201 / This dissertation examined the role of brands in consumer decision making in online environments versus offline environments. The effects of the information type and quality available in a given purchase environment influences consumer choice. The premise on which this study was based is the accessibility-diagnociticity model which states that the weight given to any piece of information which would be used for consumer decision making depends on the accessibility of that piece of information, the accessibility of alternative inputs and diagnositicity or perceived relevance of the inputs (Feldman & Lynch 1988). Information available to consumers plays a significant role in their decision making and there has been limited studies investigating this in the online versus offline shopping environments. The challenge of online shopping for some product categories is that there is limited capacity to provide touch, smell and taste information. The dissertation reports three experiments which were conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants were randomly assigned to different shopping environments with varying levels of information. The findings extend the theory of the diagnosticity of information (Alba, Hutchinson, & Lynch, 1991; Feldman & Lynch 1988; Herr, Karde, & Kim, 1991; Lynch, Marmorstein & Weigold, 1988; Lynch 2006) indicating that, when consumers observe that they do not have enough information to make a purchase decision, they do not make a decision unless the brand is familiar. vii The findings from the research offer fresh insights that familiar brands have greater advantage in online shopping than unfamiliar brands, particularly for experiential products. The results suggest that in purchase situations where there is limited sensory information, consumers rely on brand familiarity to make decisions or they do not make a decision if the brands are unfamiliar. The results of the dissertation showed that when there is limited information in consumer decision making processes, consumers use their knowledge about brands to make or not make a decision. The results contradict the long tail theory (Anderson, 2006) which proposes that the businesses would make more profits from niche offerings of unfamiliar brands. The results of the study were not conclusive on the effects of shopping environments on price sensitivity for familiar and unfamiliar brands. The results suggested the predicted pattern, though the interaction was not statistically significant and there is need for future research on online price elasticity. Future research should also explore the effects of these new sources of information like blogs, consumer and expert reviews, Facebook, etc. on consumer decision making in the offline and online environments

Este estudo dedica-se a levantar elementos que configurem a dinâmica da rua de comércio dentro de um contexto de transformações recentes da atividade comercial na cidade de São Paulo. O método envolve primeiro, num âmbito geral, o estudo da dinâmica da rua de comércio sob três diferentes aspectos: pela evolução urbana, pelas transformações sócio-econômicas e pelos hábitos de compra do consumidor. A síntese se apóia em pesquisas quantitativas para relacionar as principais ruas de comércio, categorias de produtos mais procurados e as razões pelas quais as pessoas freqüentam estas ruas de comércio. Apresenta, em conclusão, os principais atributos de uma rua de comércio, através do levantamento do seu mix de lojas, ocupação e transformações. / This study proposes to come up with elements which configurate the commerce street dynamic inside a recent transformation context of commercial activity in São Paulo city. The method envolves the study of the street dynamic upon three different aspects: through the urban evolution, the socio-economic transformation and the consumer shopping habits. The synthesis is supported on quantitative researches to relate the main commerce streets, products categories most required and the reason why people go to those commerce streets. It presents the main attributes of a commerce street, through the survey of its mix, occupation and present transformation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:23:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrea Sirotsky Gershenson.pdf: 766596 bytes, checksum: 45b208dcc2433702d551d1ded41d470b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-26 / This study analyzes the lease contract of a specific type of business organization: the Shopping Mall. We will analyze the characteristics of this kind of development and other aspects that make it a complex and unique structure and which also make it distinct from other commercial centers. Even after the Lease Law was sanctioned (Law 8.245/91), which defined the relationship between the entrepreneur and the shopkeeper as a location, it is possible to consider the peculiarities of this kind of business and notice that there is still controversy about the legal nature of this kind of contract. Thus, we will study the doctrinal positions on the legal nature of the mall, and later qualify it as a typical or atypical contract. The legal business will be contextualized within the modern view of contract law, analyzing its main principles, in particular social function, equity and good faith. We will analyze the Mall contract and its peculiar clauses under the perspective of those paradigms. We will then approach the subject of how the termination of this kind of contract would work in case of breach of its provisions, and its chances for revision or alteration. Finally, this study will weave considerations about termination or renewal actions as far as the lease contract in shopping malls is concerned / O presente estudo busca analisar o contrato de locação em um tipo específico de organização comercial: o Shopping Center. Serão analisadas as características dessa espécie de empreendimento e demais aspectos que tornam sua estrutura única e complexa, diferenciada dos demais formatos de centros comerciais. Mesmo após sancionada a Lei de Locações (Lei 8.245/91), que definiu a relação existente entre o empreendedor e o lojista como de locação, diante das peculiaridades dessa espécie de negócio, ainda existe controvérsia sobre a natureza jurídica do contrato. Assim, serão investigados os posicionamentos doutrinários acerca da natureza jurídica do shopping center, para posteriormente qualificá-lo como contrato típico ou atípico. O negócio jurídico será contextualizado dentro da visão moderna do direito contratual, analisando-se os seus princípios informadores, em especial o da função social, equidade e da boa-fé. Analisar-se-á sob a ótica dos referidos paradigmas o contrato de shopping center e suas cláusulas peculiares. Será abordado, então, como funciona a resolução dessa espécie de contrato diante do descumprimento de suas cláusulas e suas hipóteses de revisão ou alteração. Por fim, o presente estudo tecerá considerações acerca das ações revisionais e renovatórias do contrato de locação em shopping center

Cette thèse a proposé quelques développements pour améliorer la modélisation appliquée de la mobilité liée à l'activité d'achat de la population d'une agglomération. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes appuyés sur un schéma de principe du processus de caractérisation de cette mobilité. Dans ce schéma nous avons considéré que cette mobilité est définie au sein d'un ménage en répondant à quatre questions posées simultanément (qui ?, où ?, comment ? et quoi ?). La première partie de cette thèse porte sur les aspects tant qualitatifs que quantitatifs qui doivent apparaître dans le schéma ; la deuxième, sur les outils de modélisation théorique et opérationnelle ; la troisième, sur la construction du schéma proprement dit ; et la quatrième, sur l'utilisation appliquée d'un outil déjà existant. Les contributions principales de notre thèse consistent en l'utilisation d'une approche systémique pour décrire cette mobilité et l'utilisation de techniques peu utilisées actuellement en France / This thesis has aimed to enhance some aspects of the modelling of shopping trips in an urban area. We have used a block diagram to represent the mechanisms used to define this mobility and we have focused on some sides of this problem in a disaggregated approach. In our diagram we have supposed that shopping trips are defined in a household by answering four simultaneous questions (who?, where?, how? and what?). We have started by studying the qualitative and quantitative elements which must appear in our block diagram and we have continued by the study of the existing theoretical and applied modelling tools. We could then build our block diagram, and we have finished by using an existing modelling tool. The main contributions of our work are the use of a systemic approach for the description of this mobility and the use of techniques not common in France

With the explosion of social media platforms in the interactive digital media realm and companies increased comprehension of the importance of having loyal customers, the question of social media usage in developing customer loyalty has become more and more prominent. Since social media allows firms to engage directly with the end‐consumer at a relatively low cost and with a higher level of efficiency, it is particularly important for small online branded retailers with limited marketing and PR budgets. The purpose of this study is to research how the use of social media can enhance customer loyalty on the Internet. A both qualitative and quantitative approach to data collection and interpretation form the methodological basis of the study. An in‐depth interview was conducted with small online branded retailer L’Homme Rouge to get an understanding of the brands current social media usage as well as future goals and aspirations. An online survey was conducted with L’Homme Rouge’s customers to examine their opinion concerning brands and social media as well as L’Homme Rouge’s social media usage. A total of 82 questionnaires were collected from customers in the age 20‐30 years. The findings indicate that small online branded retailer L’Homme Rouge has a good understanding of what their customers want to see on their social media platforms. This provide them with the possibility to post and upload content that the consumers value. However, the retailer to a certain extent lack knowledge of which factors are important for customers to be loyal and consequently how social media can be used to enhance customer loyalty. The study has found that gaining trust as well as getting customers to recommend a brand, are two important factors in terms of establishing customer loyalty on the Internet. Due to its interactive nature, which is useful for establishing relationships as well as sharing content, the study further provides compelling evidence that social media is an effective tool when it comes to trust and recommendations. The study concludes by presenting various suggestions that small online branded retailers can use to develop and maintain customer loyalty on the Internet. The fact that only one small online branded retailer was examined means that the exploratory findings need to be investigated more rigorously. A larger sample, including more online branded retailers, would permit a more detailed exploration of customer loyalty and social media and further strengthen and extend the results. / Program: Master Programme in Fashion Management

The study is focused on investigating the effectiveness of digital fashion branding magazines through the perspective of various types of online fashion consumers. The classification of online fashion consumers is based on motives of shopping behavior. Factors of positive online shopping experience were employed in order to identify perceptions and preferences towards digital fashion branding magazines. The study is implemented by the means of digital fashion branding magazines’ analysis, focus group and individual interviews. The results of the research enable to identify various ways of presenting the branding magazines. The study demonstrates differences in perceptions of digital fashion branding magazines of various types of online fashion consumers. The types of consumers attracted by the branding magazines are considered as well. Digital fashion branding magazines are regarded to be an effective marketing tool which requires further improvement by all the identified types. / Program: Master Programme in Fashion Management