Thesis (DTech (Marketing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012. / Secondary data sourced from the Kronos Time Keeping system and Human Resources department indicate that absenteeism amongst Pick n Pay employees are constantly increasing and it seems that management has adopted a laissez-faire attitude in response to rectifying absenteeism. This study has endeavoured to establish if staff absenteeism is rife in supermarkets, which employment status has higher absenteeism figures and does it affect customer services. The objectives of this study were to answer and find solutions to the research question and the multiple questions arising from the research problem: do the supermarket employees understand the impact of absenteeism to the organisation? Is management aware of the causes of high employee absenteeism? Do management have solutions to reduce the absenteeism rate? Do management know which employee status has higher absenteeism figures? What procedures can be adopted to reduce absenteeism? The overall effect of any solution should focus on creating a more absent free and customer orientated organisation. The empirical investigation was carried out through quantitative as well as qualitative research methodology. Absenteeism statistics were collected from the five participating supermarkets in the Western Cape human resources departments and were made available to the researcher as secondary data. Four different data collection methodology were used to conduct the enquiries in the five participating supermarkets.

Megastores are the latest phenomenon in the retail industry's evolution. This new form of retailing can be categorized by three main retail types: category killers, superstores and membership clubs. The arrival of megastores into British Columbia brings with it a variety of issues including economic, environmental, employment, aesthetic, social and planning. North American examples described in current literature detail these issues but do not directly address the role of the planner vis a vis megastores. Given that megastores are changing the retail geography and community development patterns of British Columbia, planners must have a comprehensive knowledge of their quantitative and qualitative impacts. To assist in an understanding of these impacts, two British Columbian megastore host communities are considered - Prince George and Courtenay. These case studies are assessed according to impacts delineated from the North American examples to determine the applicability of other research findings. Findings from this thesis show that megastores will become an important issue for British Columbia's planners and decision-makers in the years to come. The short history of megastores in the evolution of retailing make it difficult to evaluate their impacts. While some of the impacts found in the literature hold true for the British Columbian case studies, others do not. This divergence be attributable to the focus of available literature or the difference in exposure time to the megastore phenomenon. Further observation, research and analysis will be required to provide municipality specific data on which elected officials can base decisions. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Contained within this report are a series of case study field observations of selected retail design projects utilizing natural daylighting. Followed by the investigation and laboratory testing of three alternate roof fenestration patterns applicable to the least effective design. A description of the investigation procedure, a tabulation of all research findings and a section of concluding observations serve to round out this study. All of this done in an effort to prove that there exists a positive relationship between the effective incorporation of daylighting and owner/user satisfaction with the retail building type. / Master of Architecture

Store lighting is a combination of art form and function that contributes to a retail store's sales and prosperity. The quantity, quality, and effect of the light reaching the merchandise are the determining factors in the success of the sale of merchandise. There are three basic merchandise lighting techniques used in retail stores. They include the low-end, mid-market, and high-end lighting techniques. However, retailers are developing merchandising techniques that do not have a clear cut lighting solution. A new merchandising technique for the audio/video retailer is the simulated home environment (SHE). It is a series of rooms and vignettes that present audio/video products in a home setting. Studies have shown that lighting has an affect on human behavior. In a retail store, three customer behaviors are linked to increased sales: customer communication with store personnel; customer interaction with displays and merchandise; and length of time in the store. The purpose of this study was to determine which of the lighting techniques was most effective in stimulating the customer behaviors linked to increased sales in an audio/video store's SHE. The study was conducted in an audio/video store's SHE equipped with a lighting system that could produce the three lighting techniques. Each day the SHE's lighting system was set up for one of the lighting techniques and customer behavior was unobtrusively observed and recorded. A convenience method of sampling was used in the study. The subjects were the customers shopping in the SHE. The study's experiment was done twice using two methods for selecting the observation days for the experiments. One method used the same day of the week in three successive weeks (SDW), the other used three different days within the same week (DDW). The sample size for the SDW method was 123, and 47 for the DDW method. To assess the effectiveness of the lighting techniques in stimulating customer behavior, two behavior rating scales were created. The Customer Communication Rating Scale and the Customer Display and Merchandise Interaction Rating Scale assigned values to observed customer behavior. The third customer behavior, length of time in the SHE, was measured in minutes. Data was analyzed using Chi Square tests for the Customer Communication Rating Scale and the Customer Display and Merchandise Interaction Rating Scale. An ANOVA was used to analyze the length of time in the SHE. The results indicated that both the mid-market and high-end lighting techniques were significantly better than the low-end lighting technique in stimulating customer display and merchandise interaction, and longer customer visits in the SHE. However, the results indicated that all three lighting techniques were equally effective at stimulating customer communication with store personnel. The study concluded that store lighting designs that include highlighting of displays and merchandise will stimulate customer display and merchandise interaction and longer customer visits. / Master of Science

M. Tech. Business Administration / The purpose of this study is to profile the suburban mall shopper in terms of their demographic profile characteristics and to gain an understanding of the factors that mall managers employ to attract these shoppers to their suburbian shopping malls as well as the influence these factors may have on their consumer behaviour.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

The skincare sector is among the fastest growing consumer branded products, boasting unprecedented growth rates in emerging markets, as well as steady growth in developed and post-developed markets. Yet, a more relevant question to marketers of branded skincare products is what factors influence consumers’ decisions about where to buy such products, and whether or not to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) about products and store preferences. Sirgy’s (1982, 1985) self-congruence theory postulates that the greater the match between a consumer’s self-image and the image of a retailer’s typical patron, the greater the likelihood that the consumer will prefer and patronize that retailer. However, a review of the literature on self-image congruence shows a lack of consensus with respect to: 1) the effect of self-image congruence on retail patronage, and 2) the relative strength of the four dimensions (i.e., actual/ideal self- and social/ideal social self-image) of self-image congruence on consumer preferences and choices (e.g., Ibrahim & Najjar, 2008; Kang, Tang, Lee, & Bosselma, 2012). Further, Sirgy, Grewal, and Mangleburg (2000) suggested that the more a consumer matches a retailer’s store attributes with those of an ideal store, the more likely the consumer will prefer and patronize the retailer. Thus, an integrative model (Sirgy et al., 2000) that captures the effects of retail environment and self-image congruence on retail patronage served as the theoretical foundation of this study. The purpose of this study was to examine interactively the effects of retail environment and self-image congruence on retail shopping experience and patronage behavior of Generation Y-aged (Gen Y) consumers with respect to skincare products (i.e., a sub-sector of cosmetics). Primary data were collected through online surveys from 336 American and 325 Chinese Gen Y consumers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships between self-image congruence, functional congruence, retail shopping experience, and retail patronage behavior. The findings indicate that, across the two sample groups examined, both self-image and functional congruence are related positively to Gen Y consumers’ intentions to spread positive WOM about products and store preferences. In addition, functional, but not self-image congruence, is related positively to purchase intentions across the two groups. Importantly, shopping experience, including satisfaction and pleasure, mediates the relationships between self-image, functional congruence, and retail patronage. Finally, the results of multi-group comparisons show that culture moderates the relative strength of the effect of different dimensions of self-image congruence on Gen Y consumers’ evaluations of retail store attributes and their likelihood to disseminate positive WOM. Specifically, the social-domain of image congruence (e.g., how others see me) had a greater influence on WOM for consumers from a collectivistic culture than it did for those from an individualistic culture. In contrast, the self-domain of image congruence (e.g., how I see myself) had a greater effect on Gen Y consumers’ evaluations of store attributes among those from an individualistic culture than it did for those from a collectivistic culture. This study makes three major contributions to the literature. First, the findings confirm the role of self-image and functional congruence on retail shopping experience and patronage behavior. Second, by using two sample groups from vastly different cultures, the study cross-validates the integrative conceptual model that explains consumers’ retail patronage. Finally, the findings add depth to the original self-image congruence theory by identifying conditions in which the relative strength of the relationships differ.

This thesis examines the relationship between meaning in architecture and its role in defining urban space. The definition of meaning as it applies to this thesis is a designation for those essential qualities of the man-made environment which produce in man a cognition of place. Without meaning man has no point of reference or orientation for his world. The individual act of construction that occurs within the larger framework that we call city has a responsibility to that institution of man. The city is the manifestation of man’s aspiration for order in a mutable world. Architecture as a primary element in the urban environment makes the city comprehensible to man and through architecture man carries out his intentions in the world. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Ongoing business sustainability today is one of the major issues facing the management of organizations. How to remain in the profit zone, that area where a company will be allowed to make high profit in its industry, is a constant challenge. Continued profitability in a fast changing industry, where the profit zone moves as competitors offer the same solutions, requires constant innovation, implementation of new ideas and heavy financial commitments. The key is to identify clear and rational business design choices that are responsive to customers and that will ensure profitability. This document will illustrate how the four major food retail companies in South Africa, and their visionary leaders, have reinvented their business designs in ways that kept or returned them to the profit zone. Shoprite's target market is the middle to lower income group. The company has built up core competencies within its business to serve this segment. There are currently a number of issues facing Shoprite's core market, and as a result the company is diversifying its income streams to be less dependant on a vulnerable target market. . The visionary leadership of Raymond Ackerman, who applied principles of customer sovereignty long before his peers, has resulted in one of the best-run companies in South Africa. Pick 'n Pay's ability lies within the middle to upper segment of the market. The company has built its business on one core element - the customer, and has adapted the company business design to meet the needs of the customer and capture value . .Spars' philosophy of giving the small retailer the power to compete with the larger retailer, who buys in bulk, has proved to be a successful formula and is threatening the traditional hierarchy. Owners who are in close contact to customers have the flexibility to align their businesses with the customer requirements. 'Woolworths has one of the strongest brands in the South African retail industry. However, the company has in recent years been in serious trouble having lost its way because it lost touch with its customers. Concentrating back on the core customers and building back confidence in its goods, have taken considerable focus. Each of the business designs are built on a deep understanding of what the customer needs are of the target market they serve and how they will be allowed to make a profit. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van die grootste knelpunte vir organisasies vandag is volhoubare besigheidsbestuur. Die uitdaging is om in die area te bly waar die organisasie toegelaat sal word om hoë wins te maak. Voortgesette winsgewendheid in 'n industrie waar die wins area veskuif as gevolg van mededingers wat oplossings naboots, vereis voortdurende vernuwing en strawwe finansiële verpligtinge. Die sleutel is om duidelike en rasionele besigheidsontwerpbesluite te neem wat kliente behoeftes aanspreek en wat na 'n wins sal lei. Hierdie dokument beskryf hoe die vier groot voedselhandelaars en hulle leiers hul besighede herontwerp het sodat hulle winsgewend kan bly. Shoprite se teiken mark is die middel - tot lae inkomste groep. Die firma het kern bevoegdhede binne sy besigheid ontwikkel om hierdie segment te bedien. Shoprite diversifeer huidiglik sy inkomste stroom as gevolg van die kwesbaarheid van sy teiken mark. Pick 'n Pay word as een van Suid Afrika se beste bestuurde firmas beskou. Die sukses word toegeskryf aan die leierskap van Raymond Ackerman wat die beginsels van kliënte soewereiniteit lank voor sy portuurgroep geïmplimenteer het. Pick 'n Pay se fokus is die middel - tot hoë inkomste groep. Die firma is op een kern element gebou, die kliënt, en sy besigheids ontwerp is aangepas om die behoeftes van die kliënt te bevredig. Spar se filosofie is om die kleiner handelaar in 'n posisie te stel om met die groot handelaar, wat in grootrnaat aankoop, te kan meeding. Die groei wat Spar toon bedreig die traditionele hiërargie en bewys die sukses van hierdie formule. Winkel eienaars wat noue kontak met kliënte het, kan hulle besighede aanpas om in kliënte se behoeftes te voorsien. Woolworths het een van die sterkste handelsmerke in die Suid Afrikaanse handels industrie. Die firma was in die laaste paar jaar in groot moeilikheid omdat hy tred verloor het met sy kliënte. Deur weer te konsentreer op die kern kliënt en om vertroue op te bou in sy goedere het beduidende fokus vereis. Elk van die besigheids ontwerpe is gebou op 'n intieme begrip van die behoeftes van die teiken mark wat bedien word en hoe die firma toegelaat sal word om 'n wins te maak.

Thesis (PhD (Consumer Science. Clothing and Textiles))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / The current apparel retail environment is marked by intense competitive activity. The key to survival is the implementation of effective differentiation strategies. Corporate and retail branding provides retailers with a powerful tool to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and store image is a vital component of this branding strategy. This exploratory study set out to investigate the underlying theoretical structure of store image. A store image scale was developed for the measurement of the perceived importance of store image. The study adopted a five phase methodology, namely (1) construct definition and domain specification, (2) generation and judging of measurement items, (3) purification of the store image scale, (4) assessing the reliability and validity of the store image scale, and (5) assessing the perceived importance of the dimensions of store image in selected discount and specialty stores through practical implementation of the store image scale. The first two phases of the study resulted in a Model of Store Image delineating the underlying structure of store image which formed the basis for a store image definition, as well as a 232-item store image scale with established content and face validity. Phase 3 comprised two pilot studies that served to purify the store image scale. The first pilot study concluded in a 214-item scale that was deemed too lengthy for practical implementation in the apparel retail environment. The second pilot study resulted in a 55-item store image scale that was deemed acceptable for practical implementation. Correlation analysis provided support for the shortened version of the store image scale. The scale was not representative of all the sub dimensions associated with store image. This was reflected in the Revised Model of Store Image. Phase 4 employed a mall-intercept research method. The sample population (n=534) consisted of apparel consumers, both male and female, between the ages of 20 and 60. They belonged to the black, coloured or white population groups who patronised specific apparel retail outlets. Trained fieldworkers gathered the data at selected discount and specialty apparel stores. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the data and results provided support for the reliability of the store image scale. The Atmosphere, Convenience, Institutional, and Promotion dimensions exhibited good model fit. The Facilities and Sales personnel dimensions, as well as the Revised Model of Store Image showed evidence of acceptable model fit. The Merchandise and Service dimensions demonstrated poor fit. Only the Sales personnel dimension showed convergent validity. Support was found for marginal convergent validity of the Atmosphere, Convenience, Facilities, Promotion, and Service dimensions, as well as the Revised Model of Store Image. The Institutional and Merchandise dimensions did not exhibit convergent validity. Apart from the Convenience and Service dimensions, discriminant validity for all dimensions was established. Item analysis identified seven scale items for deletion which could potentially result in better model fit of the individual dimensions as well as the Revised Model of Store Image. The deletion of these items could contribute to increased convergent and discriminant validity. For purposes of Phase 5 the data gathered during Phase 4 was submitted to statistical analysis. Results indicated that discount and specialty apparel store consumers ranked the Atmosphere, Promotion, Merchandise, Institutional, and Sales personnel dimensions similarly in perceived importance. Discount apparel store consumers ranked the Facilities and Convenience dimensions higher, whilst specialty consumers ranked the Service dimension higher. However, the differences in ranking for all dimensions remained relatively small for both store types. Statistical differences in the perceived importance of only two dimensions, namely the Institutional and Service dimensions were found. The study culminated in revised 48-item store image scale. A Final Model of Store Image and definition of store image were proposed as point of departure for future research.. The main implications for retailers were formulated as: 􀂍 The Final Model of Store Image identified the dimensions and sub dimensions of store image. Retailers should manipulate the tangible and intangible store attributes associated with these dimensions and sub dimensions to build a favourable store image. Due to the gestalt nature of store image it is imperative that all store image dimensions are presented in a cohesive and consistent manner. 􀂍 The store image scale will enable retailers to ascertain which dimensions are salient to their target consumers. These dimensions should be incorporated in the retail strategy.