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Dissertation (PhD)--Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dissertation reflects the research done on the design principles and success factors for the operation of cross dock facilities in grocery and retail supply chains. The cross dock is a particular facility in the supply chain where goods are received from suppliers, sorted without storage of the goods, and then efficiently moved to downstream customers. Cross docks are not a new operation. However, the use in high volume grocery and retail operational capabilities is poorly understood and is not uniquely defined. The problem is that cross docks are often seen as extensions of warehouses. The same personnel, systems and processes are applied and the efficiency potential of the cross dock is not achieved. Warehouses are orientated towards storing the full range of product and allowing the pick to be done from this storage buffer to provide any or all of these products to a customer. Cross docks will only handle products that are used in larger quantities and that are sent to most, if not all, the customers. The cross dock is therefore distinct and very different from the traditional warehouse. The published research tends to focus on the technical aspects of the cross dock layout. This research is primarily in the scheduling of the trucks into the yard of the facility; the allocation of trucks to specific doors of the facility; and the allocation of doors to receiving and despatch functions within the facility. Very little information or research reflects the design principles and success factors for the cross dock and its supply chain. The only classification of the cross dock in the literature is whether the barcode is added to the item before or after receipt at the cross dock. For this research work a literature survey was conducted and five major operations were reviewed, in South Africa and the USA. The research empirically drew logical conclusions, which were tested in the operations and found to be correct. This allowed the design principles and success factors to be determined for a successful cross dock. The research extends the knowledge of the cross dock operation and design: - • A new classification for the feasible types of cross docks in the supply chain was developed. Three factors are shown to be of primary importance: - o Where in the supply chain the identification of specific items for a customer is done; o Where the sort is done for the items to be delivered to a customer; and o Whether the supplier is providing one product or multiple products to the sort. From these three factors, eight potential classifications could be defined. However, only three practical types of cross dock can be determined from these eight alternatives. These are named in this research as Cross Dock Managed Load (CML); Joint Managed Load (JML); and the Supplier Managed Load (SML). The cross dock is far more effective than the warehouse when the total work (excluding inventory) is considered. The earlier in the supply chain the product is identified for the use of the entire downstream supply chain, the more effective will be the total supply chain. Thus the greatest supply chain effectiveness possible is with the SML, then the JML and finally the CML. • The operation of a cross dock is very similar to a continuous manufacturing process. There is no buffer of stock to decouple the inbound and outbound processes, and the operation takes place in a restricted area. However, in the retail chain, the workload alters with different orders and different days. Daily load differences vary by as much as 90%. This results in vastly different workloads and variations of throughput. This is similar to a batch operation with highly variable workloads between batches. The literature recommends the use of Just in Time (JIT) practice for cross docks. This is inappropriate as its primary requirements are continuous full volume operation and continuous small improvements to achieve a balanced operation. The most appropriate method of process improvement is the Theory of Constraints (TO C) and not JlT. • The management must have a detailed, disciplined approach. This implies standardised methods of operation, and a high degree of training. Equally there is the requirement for a special type of personnel to operate the cross dock. These operating personnel must be able to operate with precision (i.e. very low error rates) and be able to maintain this capability for continuous periods. • The systems required for a successful operation must include the capabilities of Yard Management, WMS for cross docking, Order Management with Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) capability and Track and Trace across the supply chain. The items need to be identified by a barcode. The information required on the barcode will be determined by. the information systems capability of the least advanced service provider in the supply chain. If this service provider can receive and transmit all the data required for the supply chain from and to the other members, then the barcode need only be an identification number of the specific item. The data pertaining to the items is then passed from system to system in the supply chain. If data movement is not possible between all the parties in the entire supply chain, then the barcode must contain the information that will identify the item, the origin and the final delivery destination. If the items are delivered as part of a consignment, a further quantum of information is required to identify the total number of items in the consignment and the specific item within the consignment. • The research shows that the overall capability of the cross dock or its maximum capacity is the combination of the capability of the personnel and the cross dock design. Restrictions on either the personnel capability or the design of the cross dock, or both, severely reduces the effectiveness of the cross dock. • The previous research on the sequence of allocation of trucks to specific doors within the cross dock can be enhanced with a new sequencing method. The new method allocates the transport, in sequence of arrival, to the open door that either numrruses the walk distance in the facility; or maximises the completion of the consignments in order to minimise the area required to build the consignments; or a combination of both. The choice of these will be determined by the constraints imposed by the design of the building. This is an important extension as this ties the supply chain into the cross dock operation, rather than looking at the cross dock in isolation as has been done in this previous research. • The factors that influence the design of a cross dock as to its size, shape, number of doors, and the specifically required additional areas, is defined in detail. The principles of these factors and their inter-relationships and dependencies are used in a detailed design for a cross dock. The detailed design process is set out from data analysis through to the actual size calculations and layouts. Measurements of walk distance and sort movement are used to determine the most effective design. The design is shown to be considerably more effective than the older designs. This work has significantly extended the research on the design principles and success factors for implementation of cross docks in retail supply chains. The research derives a unique new classification for cross docks. An improvement is made to existing research on the allocation of the transport to particular doors in the cross dock. The operation, management and personnel are shown to require specific characteristics. The information systems required for effective cross docks is determined and defined. The identification of the individual items by barcode and the information required within the barcode depending on the information sophistication of the service providers in the supply chain is defined. A detail process to design a cross dock is evolved, with the full knowledge of the factors that must be considered and their interrelationships. Measurements to determine the effectiveness of the design are used to choose the most appropriate design. All these are then synthesised into a new design, which is far more effective than any of the other designs researched. The design process will produce a very effective cross dock as has been demonstrated with a new facility. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: geen opsomming

Digitaliseringen är den faktor som präglat hela detaljhandeln framåt och utvecklat nya försäljningskanaler. Av studiens resultat har framkommit att digitaliseringen ihop med kundens roll haft den största påverkan på hur försäljningskanalerna utvecklats. Studien har även påvisat viss problematik kring hur fysiska resurser på bästa sätt optimeras då branschen i framtiden tros bli allt mer digitaliserad och robotiserad. Idag strävar livsmedelsföretag att på bästa sätt kunna tillfredsställa kunders behov, vilket tagit dem fram till utvecklingen som skett. Företag kommer även i framtiden arbeta för att tillmötesgå och uppfylla ett unikt kundvärde. Resultatet påvisar att faktorer som tidsbesparing, effektivisering, integrering av försäljningskanaler samt robotisering är nödvändiga för en utveckling som ligger i framkant. / Purpose and research question The purpose of the study is to investigate the change of various sales channels and the customer’s role in the retail sector and how representatives from companies believe that sales channels may develop in the future. With this as a starting point, four research questions have been developed with a focus on the grocery trade. 1. In what ways are sales channels considered? 2. What different types of customer values characterize the company’s work? 3. How is the customer’s role affected depending on the different sales channels? 4. How do representatives of the trade and consultants in the field consider sales channels may develop in the future? Method This thesis is based on this case study of qualitative method in the Swedish grocery trade. The foundation consists of a deductive approach with elements of induction aspects. Empirical data consists of eight semi-structured interviews, after which the respondents are representatives in both retail and grocery trade. Conclusion Digitization is the factor that has characterized the entire retail trade forward and developed new sales channels. The study's result revealed that the digitization together with the customer's role had the greatest impact on how the sales channels have developed. The study has also shown some problems with how ineffectively physical resources are utilized. Due to that the industry is believed to be increasingly digitized in the future. The grocery trade strives it’s best to satisfy the needs of the customer. This yearning has led to futher development. The results show that factors such as time optimization, increased focus on efficiency, and strengthening the integration of sales channels are necessary for the development of the industry. In the future companies will work to not only understand but meet a unique costumer need.

The thesis discusses the development of Multi-Warehouse Inventory Control System (MWICS), a uniquely designed web application that targets membership based food wholesalers. The main goal of MWICS is to provide a real-time inventory control ability to all warehouses and present them as if it were single warehouse. The program consists of three main components: user account management sub-system, product and purchase management sub-system, and a warehouse inventory management sub-system. User interfaces are constructed primarily in HTML, PHP, and Javascript. MySQL is used to add, access, and process data.

Millions of dollars are spent each year on sales promotion in grocery retailing. Despite this, no one really knows wheter promotions for individual items have positive, neutral, or negative effects on the store’s total profits. In this dissertation, an attempt is made to build a framework model that can be used to predict and evaluate how specific promotions affect item-level, category-level, and store-level profits. One major contribution is that the proposed model specifically incorporates store-traffic and cannibalization effects. The book consists of four parts: the first part is a review of the literature on sales promotion. The second part describes the development of a model for measuring the profit of retailer promotions. The third part shows the impact of sales promotion on profits for a number of hypothetical products. The fourth part measures the profit impact of sales promotions for 15 items in three product categories. The data used in this study were collected in a Swedish supermarket in cooperation with ICA. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1995

Thesis (MTech (Retail Business Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The growth and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) such as the Internet across the globe, has been phenomenal. For both businesses and consumers, the Internet birthed new and highly effective and efficient avenues for communicating and transacting. The use of the Internet as a business trading platform known as e-commerce became popular in the 1990s and has inevitably led to the mushrooming of online retailers. The growth of this non-store retail segment poses a threat to traditional brick and mortar retail stores, although retail experts now view online retailing as an evolution rather than a revolution. Previously, non-grocery merchandise was the predominant commodity that was being sold online, but there is now growing evidence of online grocery shopping (OGS). Most developed nations such as UK, USA, France and Finland are considered to have well-developed online grocery markets, yet developing countries such as South Africa are still at an infancy stage. Most research about OGS had a Eurocentric view, and there are limited studies that focus on other parts of the world such as Africa. This research study took a consumer-centric perspective to understand consumer adoption of OGS, with the specific aim of determining factors that influence consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS in the Cape Metropolitan area of South Africa. This study followed a quantitative research approach and a statistically derived sample size of 455 respondents was used. These respondents were conveniently selected at shopping malls in the Cape Metropolitan area. Of the questionnaires that were distributed, 391 questionnaires were usable and were captured on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 for the purpose of data analysis. The findings of the study showed that most respondents were black single females aged between 26 and 45 years with a diploma education level. The study also showed that 84.9% (n=391) of respondents had not adopted OGS, which indicated that most respondents were still accustomed to in-store grocery shopping. Using the Generalised Linear Model to determine which factors influenced consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS, only Perceived Cost (PCo) had a significant influence on consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS. Other factors such as Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Visibility (VIS), Perceived Risk (PR), Perceived Image Barrier (PIB) and Social Attractiveness (SAT) had an indirect influence on consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS. Based on the findings of the study in order to improve consumer adoption of OGS, the following recommendations have been made. Firstly, that online grocery managers and e-marketers should market OGS emphasising the usefulness and cost effectiveness of using it while at the same time factors such as PU, PEOU, VIS, PR, VIS, PIB and SAT should also be integrated into the communication campaigns. Secondly, that further research can be done to find ways that grocery retailers can use retain online grocery shoppers.

Den tekniska utvecklingen har skapat en unik möjlighet för den traditionella handelns verksamheter att övergå till en digital plattform eller e-handel. E-handeln har sett en stor ökning de senaste åren och anses vara ett seriöst alternativ till den traditionella handel då det ger konsumenter en möjlighet att anpassa tjänsten efter sina egna krav och behov.    Syftet med studien är att undersöka informationsutbyte mellan aktörer inom e-handelns dagligvaruhandel. Digitaliseringen innebär att konsument och leverantör av tjänsten inte möts som de tidigare gjort. Detta innebär att kommunikationen måste bli tydligare för att hjälpa konsumenten. Informationsutbytet mellan konsument och handlare måste ersättas med tillräcklig produktinformation för att underlätta kundens inhandling. E-handel och fysiska butiker skiljer sig på många sätt och hanteringen av färskvaror är en viktig aspekt.  Service-dominant logic (SDL) används som studiens primära ramverk för att analysera empirin och förstå vad som drar konsumenter till dagligvaruhandelns e-handel. SDL är en logik som till skillnad från sin föregångare ställer aktörer i centrum, inom dagligvaruhandeln inkluderar det primärt kunden och handlaren. Aktörerna skapar gemensamt ett value co-creation vilket kan ses som ett samskapat värde där båda parter måste finnas för att skapa ett värdeerbjudande.      Studien valde att utforma en kvalitativ undersökning utifrån tre centrala punkter: konsumentperspektivet, tekniska perspektivet och tjänsteperspektivet. Utifrån det gjordes intervjuer som sedan transkriberades och analyserades för att besvara studiens frågeställningar.    Analysen av resultatet gjordes genom studiens ramverk (SDL) samt den omskrivna litteraturen för att komma fram till ett resultat. Resultatet av analysen visar att studiens informanter upplever informationsutbytet som otillräckligt samt att det inte uppfyller deras krav kring tjänsten. Bristen av information påverkar därför även hanteringen av färskvaror, det framgår inte tydligt hur konsumenten ska gå till väga för att lösa situationen. / The technical development has created a unique opportunity for the traditional trade businesses to move to a digital platform or e-commerce format. E-commerce has seen a large increase in the past years and is considered a major alternative to the more traditional trade since it gives consumers an opportunity to adapt the service to meet their needs. The aim of the study is to investigate information exchange between actors involved in grocery stores e-commerce. The digitization means that consumers and suppliers of the service do not physically meet, which means that that communication must be replaced to help the consumer. The exchange of information between consumer and retailer must be replaced with sufficient product information to facilitate customer needs. E-commerce and physical stores differ in many ways and the handling of fresh produce is an important aspect. Service-dominant logic (SDL) is used as the study's primary theoretical framework for analyzing the empirical data and to better understand what draws consumers to the grocery trade's e-commerce. SDL is a logic that, unlike its predecessor, puts actors at the center, in the grocery trade it primarily includes the customer and the retailer. The actors create a value co-creation, which can be seen as a co-created value where both parties must be present to create the joint value. The study chose to design a qualitative study based on three central points: the consumer perspective, the technical perspective and the service perspective. Based on this, interviews were conducted which were then transcribed and analyzed to answer the study's questions. Analysis of the result was done with the theoretical framework (SDL) and the rewritten literature to arrive at a conclusion. The results of the analysis show that the study's informants perceive the exchange of information as insufficient and do not meet their demands regarding the service. The lack of information therefore also affects the handling of fresh produce, it’s not clear how the consumer should go about resolving the situation.

This study measured the grocery shopping behavior of households through a hand delivered and hand retrieved questionnaire. The focus of this study was the identification of the convenience store as a place where grocery shoppers purchase fill-in grocery items between major supermarket trips. The survey measured the shopping behavior of households toward supermarkets and the shopping behavior of the households toward convenience stores. This study replicates the Sequence of Effects Model of grocery shopping behavior and a grocery shopping strategy typology to address the issue of how convenience store patrons differ from non patrons in their attitudes and behavior toward grocery shopping and in their attitudes and behavior toward their primary supermarkets. This research also addressed the differences in relationships with the primary convenience store among patrons with different rates of patronage. The attitude of grocery shoppers regarding their trust of supermarkets to have fair prices and quality products was found to influence their perception of their primary supermarkets. Grocery shoppers were also found to express an inverse relationship between the feelings of time pressure during fill-in grocery shopping trips and their perception of their primary supermarkets. The typology of grocery shoppers was found to describe different convenience store patrons as well as supermarket patrons. Typology membership indicates the likelihood of a shopper being a convenience store patron. Convenience store patrons were found to give lower evaluations to their primary supermarkets, to feel greater time pressure during fill-in shopping, and to be less involved in information search than non patrons. They were also found to have larger evoked sets than grocery shoppers who do not patronize convenience stores. Convenience store patrons were found to hold greater feelings of personalization and socialization with their primary convenience store when they had greater frequency rates. The supermarket was found to be the store of choice for fill-in grocery shopping by an overwhelming majority of grocery shoppers. The study results show theoretical, methodological, and substantive implications concerning grocery shopping behavior and the patronage of convenience stores. This study concludes with suggestions for future research. / Ph. D.

Bakgrund: Handeln är en av de branscher i Sverige som har den högsta personalomsättningen, vilket i sin tur resulterar i höga personal- och rekryteringskostnader. Flertalet studier visar att det finns ett samband mellan de anställdas grad av motivation och viljan de har att stanna kvar inom organisationen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad som motiverar de anställda till att fortsätta sitt arbete inom dagligvaruhandeln. Studiens teoretiska referensram tar sin utgångspunkt i utvalda områden från Frederick Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori som syftar till att vissa faktorer kan leda till en ökad arbetsmotivation hos de anställda och därför motivera dem till att fortsätta sin anställning. Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie är att beskriva och analysera vilka faktorer som motiverar anställda till att fortsätta sitt arbete inom dagligvaruhandeln. Studiens forskningsfrågor är utformade enligt följande: ●  Hur skapas motivation i de anställdas arbetsuppgifter? ●  Hur skapas motivation till utveckling? ●  Hur skapas motivation till de anställdas prestationer? Metod: För att besvara det ställda syftet utfördes en kvalitativ studie i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda från en organisation inom dagligvaruhandeln. Slutsats: Föreliggande studie visar att de faktorer som kan motivera anställda till att fortsätta sin anställning inom dagligvaruhandeln är ansvar samt återkoppling. Studien visar på en bristande motivation hos de anställda och många är därför på väg att lämna sin anställning. Nyckelord: arbetsmotivation, dagligvaruhandel, personalomsättning

The research reported in this thesis tested the hypothesis that low-income families purchase private brands of selected food products because they represent acceptable quality at lower prices. The six food products selected were coffee, flour, peanut butter, bread, pork and beans, and margarine. The data collected in field interviews and subsequent statistical analyses consistently refuted the hypothesis. This finding is true for the low-income consumer segment and its sub-categories, white and Negro. The low-income consumers do not purchase private brands heavily, but test data indicate that this market segment buys more private brands than does the C > $7000 consumer group. There is evidence of substantial differences in the buying habits of low-income Negro and white consumers. While neither market segment purchases more private brands than national labels, the N < $3000 consumer tends to buy more private brands than does the W < $3000 consumer. Contrary to the hypothesis the indication is that the C > $7000 consumer knows price better than does the low-income consumer. Also, greater importance is attached to price by the C > $7000 group than by the low-income segment. This is not true of the Negro consumer. As stated above, the N < $3000 consumer buys more private brands than does the W < $3000 consumer. This tendency exists for price knowledge and the importance attached to price. The Negro consumer tends to know prices better, and he attaches more importance to price than does any of the other income segments tested. Regarding private-brand awareness, none of the market segments tested was well informed about private-brand market offerings. However, low-income consumers were able to name more private brands than were the C > $7000 consumers. Negro consumers were able to name more private labels than the W < $3000 group. The field data and test results all indicate that the Negro consumer tends to spend his money on the selected products more knowledgeably than the lower income white consumer. The Negro is better informed as to price and the private-brand offering. / M.S.