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It has been shown that in today’s society, businesses will need to consider not only selling products or services, but also experiences in order to fulfil customers’ increasing demand for more stimuli in purchase situations. Additionally, brick and mortar retailers will need to respond to the increased use of online sales channels through finding ways of attracting customers to their stores. One way of responding to both trends can be to practise Experience Marketing and thereby offer holistic, stimulating and memorable customer experiences at every purchase situation. With this insight, this thesis will investigate which specific factors that are perceived as important when creating successful in-store experiences. From this, the aim is to create a framework based on customers’ perceptions that can be useful for brick and mortar retailers when implementing experience marketing. Five propositions of what factors to include in order to create successful experiences are presented. These are tested and further developed through both quantitative and qualitative research. The empirical investigation results in the creation of a final suggested framework including the supported propositions, one new Additional Factor and several suggested subcategories within each factor. The final framework suggests following factors as important when creating successful experience marketing: Store Environment, Employee Characteristics, Senses and Additional Factor.

Negli ultimi vent’anni le imprese del grande dettaglio hanno assunto un ruolo ragguardevole nell’ambito della distribuzione commerciale e del sistema economico italiano. Questo lavoro di ricerca è dedicato a tale settore e, più specificatamente, ha come obiettivo l’identificazione dei rischi della logistica nelle imprese della grande distribuzione despecializzata e l’individuazione delle misure di gestione, attraverso una validazione empirica dei contributi della teoria. Partendo dalla mission dell’impresa commerciale del grande dettaglio, sono presentati i suoi principali processi di gestione, con un particolare focus su obiettivi, logiche di funzionamento e strumenti adottati nell’ambito della logistica. Inoltre sono esaminate le tipologie di rischio di supply chain e le correlate misure di mitigazione descritte in letteratura. Si è in tal modo giunti alla costruzione di una mappa dei rischi della logistica in tali imprese. Per la validazione di tale modello si sono analizzate alcune delle più importanti imprese della grande distribuzione in Italia. L’evidenza empirica ha permesso di validare tale modello, pur nella sua non esaustività, consentendo di individuare un gruppo di rischi specifici per la logistica e le principali misure di mitigazione adottate. / In the last 20 years large retailers have increased their importance in the commercial distribution and Italian economic system. The thesis is focused on these firms and, specifically, it has the purpose of identifying supply chain risks and risk responses in large-scale retail trade, by a experimental verification of theoretical models. Beginning by large retailer’s mission, its key management processes were explained, with a particular focus on goals, processes and tools of retail logistics. Furthermore supply chain risks and connected risk responses, as described in literature, were elucidated. Besides, a supply chain risk map was presented. Case studies was carried out on some of the most important Italian large retailers, with the aim to validate the risk map. It has been possible, thus, to validate the model and to identify typical supply chain risks and the most common risk response strategies.

In the past few decades spatial econometric models have become a standard tool in empirical research. Nevertheless applications in binary-choice models remain scarce. This paper makes use of Bayesian Spatial Probit Models to model and estimate spatial interactions in location decisions. For this purpose, we focus on the Austrian retail gasoline market, which is going through a process of remarkable structural changes. A short analysis shows that, during the last decade 10.9% of the stations had left the market and a percentage of 29.6% had either left the market or had changed the brand. This paper aims at investigating this process. A special characteristic of this market is the local competition structure which is characterized by spatial dependencies along local competitors. To capture these spatial dependencies and since the dependent variable is binary in nature (an exit had taken place or not), we apply a Bayesian spatial probit model using MCMC estimation on station level data for the whole Austrian retail gasoline market. Our results suggest, that the decision to leave the market, does not only depend on own characteristics, but also on competitors. In particular, we find the exit decisions to exhibit a negative spatial correlation. Moreover, our model allows to quantify spatial spillover effects of this market. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

In 1995, few retailers considered the Internet important to the future of their businesses. By 2000 the prevailing wisdom suggests that it has become almost imperative to incorporate the Internet into a company's business activities. However, whilst some areas of the U.K. retail sector are successfully integrating the Internet into their businesses others remain unconnected. This work is a study of Internet adoption amongst UK retailers from 1995 to 2000. It explores the level of adoption in terms of the technical progression and extent of adoption, in terms of the range of features included in retail Web-sites. Additionally, the project explores the factors that are likely to influence the retailers' Internet adoption progress. A multi-method research strategy was used combining qualitative and quantitative methods: an on-line survey of retail Web activities followed by in-depth interviews and finally, a postal survey. The results of the on-line survey reveal that Internet adoption varies according to retailer size and product assortment. Some retailers' Web-sites include a range of informational, interactive or transactional features, while others have yet to be developed sufficiently to be available via the Web. The results of the Interviews and postal survey indicate that some retail organisations may be better positioned to take advantage of the Internet than others. Indeed, nine critical factors are found to have a significant influence upon the retailers' level of Internet adoption. In particular, operating in an appropriate market sector and having a positive view of the viability of the Internet, in-conjunction with the development of an appropriate Internet strategy, can strongly facilitate a retailer's adoption progress. From the, researcher's perspective, this study is important as it identifies many new variables and factors, and provides insights into how to devise a robust, multi-faceted methodology.

What characterises the grocery store — customer relation? Can grocery stores expect to have an active role in households’ management of everyday life? Can households, on the other hand demand active participation and help from the stores? By which methods can we learn more both about food-related consumer behaviour and about the relation between stores and consumers? Based on two empirical studies of consumer behaviour, this books deals with these issues. In the first part of the book an empirical study using 165 weeks of POS scanner data for fourteen product categories is presented. These data were used to analyse effects of different promotional activities, and the results indicated that in-store activities, particularly in the form of in-store display, were important. The results from the first study brought the question of store — customer relation into focus, why this relation was studied next. The second part of the book consists of this exploratory, empirical study applying participant interviewing. In this case it meant talking to grocery shoppers while observing them. Some ten households with small children were accompanied to the grocery store, providing a context based consumer perspective. Different aspects of food and purchasing, such as interest in food and the social role of the meal, were treated. Tentatively, the dimensions planning and involvement are suggested as dimensions by which to separate households or shopping trips from each other. If validated, these dimensions might be useful as instruments for retailers interested in adapting to their customers different needs and purchasing behaviours. The concluding part discusses the two empirical studies, both in terms of method and in terms of contribution to knowledge on consumer behaviour. One important issue is here the value, for a single researcher, of combining two studies with such different methods. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

The changing dynamics of the fashion retailing industry has progressed and become a global multibillion industry, (Solomon & Rabolt, 2007). It has put a lot of pressure on the fast fashion retailers were key strategies in order to maintain a strong position in market, must be established, (Doyle, Moore & Morgan, 2006). As the increasing number of new fashion retailing companies have emerged and established, the fashion segment has become a market leader, (Mehrjoo & Pasek, 2014). Fashion consumers expect and thrive on continuous change were new fashion products always have to be available in store on an everyday basis, (Bruce & Daly, 2006). Most companies aim to ensure the speed to market as a competitive strategy by offering rapidly fashion trends. Fast fashion companies need to deliver their product offer to the customers before their competitors do and the choice of supply chain strategy gets critical, (Porter 1996). Gadde and Håkansson (2009), argue that a company's purchase process is the answer of this matter. The importance of the purchase process has therefore become of great focus. The issue of defining what it is that actually makes the difference when working with the purchase process is complex, with several aspects to take in consideration. The aim of this report is to present the most significant activities within the purchase process that makes a company competitive in the market. As buyers carry the main responsibility over their department groups it became essential to answer the research questions from their perspective. The buyers’ sees a general problematic in how to influence the purchase chain in a larger scale. However, they claim that the most essential factors, that makes a difference for a company to be successful within the fast fashion industry was concluded to be: short-term and long-term solutions within the daily work primary within the team. The buyers’ solutions are presented in the form of clear goals within the process work, and tools for how to reach the set goals. There must be a clarity through the organization which generates an 80/20 mindset were all actors are focusing on what it is that makes the difference. Communication is a key tool one should work with further on, both at an internal and an external level and as it creates the right conditions for the workflow in a more efficient way. This is for everyone to share a clearer understanding of and be able to work effectively towards the rapid changes that are performed over the season. Lastly, the buyers appear to have an ambiguous picture of how the fashion industry will progress. They are proud of how far Sweden has come with its identity in the fashion industry and the prominent clothing brands. But on the other hand, they are concerned for the how much further the fashion industry can be pushed, taking the environmental and sustainable viewpoint in consideration.

With the rise of e-commerce, more and more retailers switch the focus to online environment. In order to gain customers’ e-loyalty, e-retailers have to pay more attention to e-loyalty itself and its antecedents. To help practitioners and academicians better understand e-loyalty, theory of e-satisfaction, e-trust and perceived value were introduced in this thesis. A conceptual model was structured to further explain the relationships towards e-loyalty. The purpose of this thesis is to explain the relationship of e-loyalty and its antecedents (e-satisfaction, e-trust and perceived value) and identify the strongest antecedent leading to e-loyalty.

A quantitative research in the attitude of European students towards Chinese web shops. The purpose of this research is to determine which factors influence the attitude of European students the most while purchasing from Chinese webshops. The research framework is inspired by the Theory of Planned behaviour. The responses from the questionair were analysed using SPSS and the findings indicated that perceived behaviour control influences the attitude of European students the most, closely followed by website factors and service quality. In contrast, the factors subjective norms, price as well as product variety shows relatively smaller influence. Nevertheless, these factors should not be neglected when targeting European students for online shopping.

abstract: Consumer goods supply chains have gradually incorporated lean manufacturing principles to identify and reduce non-value-added activities. Companies implementing lean practices have experienced improvements in cost, quality, and demand responsiveness. However certain elements of these practices, especially those related to transportation and distribution may have detrimental impact on the environment. This study asks: What impact do current best practices in lean logistics and retailing have on environmental performance? The research hypothesis of this dissertation establishes that lean distribution of durable and consumable goods can result in an increased amount of carbon dioxide emissions, leading to climate change and natural resource depletion impacts, while lean retailing operations can reduce carbon emissions. Distribution and retailing phases of the life cycle are characterized in a two-echelon supply chain discrete-event simulation modeled after current operations from leading organizations based in the U.S. Southwest. By conducting an overview of critical sustainability issues and their relationship with consumer products, it is possible to address the environmental implications of lean logistics and retailing operations. Provided the waste reduction nature from lean manufacturing, four lean best practices are examined in detail in order to formulate specific research propositions. These propositions are integrated into an experimental design linking annual carbon dioxide equivalent emissions to: (1) shipment frequency between supply chain partners, (2) proximity between decoupling point of products and final customers, (3) inventory turns at the warehousing level, and (4) degree of supplier integration. All propositions are tested through the use of the simulation model. Results confirmed the four research propositions. Furthermore, they suggest synergy between product shipment frequency among supply chain partners and product management due to lean retailing practices. In addition, the study confirms prior research speculations about the potential carbon intensity from transportation operations subject to lean principles. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sustainability 2011