Retail is a labour intensive industry and strategically, retail productivity can be used to differentiate retail stores and provides the foundation to develop strategies for growth and diversification in retail stores (Dubelaar, Bhargava and Ferrarin, 2002). This study used historical data to identify the drivers of retail productivity, measured as units per man-hour worked. Prior literature has suggested that sales mix, retail gross, basket size, shrinkage, services, managers’ experience, staff compliment, work force flexibility, number of people employed and the number of units sold could contribute to retail productivity. Of all these variables all except shrinkage and the number of store managers’ years experience proven to be significant. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section, 00front of this document / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Marketing Management / MCom / Unrestricted

The idea of building underground is fascinating. From a designer’s perspective the creation of architectural spaces beneath the earth’s surface is a great accomplishment. Without building facades and a predetermined exterior shell it seems to be the ultimate interior and engineering challenge. Despite the enigma hereof, many people are startled by this concept as underground spaces are commonly associated with uncertainty; depicted by dark and confined passages. Many metro stations, especially older, more traditional ones, are detached from their external context. It is this disconnection that generates confusion and results in fear. Subterranean spaces have a unique atmosphere and the experience of being underground is quite different to that of being in a building or structure above ground level. When one enters a subterranean space you are confronted with a change in light quality and intensity. Artificial light, though used as the primary illumination source in most building structures, visibly play a more significant role due to the deficiency of natural light. The prominence of artificial light simultaneously enhances an awareness of the shadows and contrasts it produces. It is this “play” of light and dark that creates a mood and atmosphere different to that of other spaces. Furthermore, one becomes dependent on the provision of information, which can manifest in various forms such as signage, to orientate and direct oneself. Textures and finishes act as narrative tools that direct users safely to their destination. The scale and size of the space and the elements placed within it, is also experienced more intensely by users because of the contained nature of the space. Scale is therefore fundamental as the spaces can easily become uncomfortable and cramped. Though the subterranean experience is different, it does not imply that it is superior. It simply means that those differences should be acknowledged, which necessitates that underground spaces require a unique approach in their design in order to allow them to be appreciated and functionally utilised. The underground metro has become the most common occupant of subterranean space across the world. Thus it’s also the most obvious choice for an investigation and a design with a subterranean nature. In the South African context the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link presents the perfect opportunity to introduce the novel concept of travelling underground. This dissertation will investigate the functioning and progression of the metro with the intention of creating a design methodology aimed at initiating an underground culture fit for the contemporary South African society. It aspires to produce a station that would enhance the commuting experience, firstly by presenting a pleasant, safe and legible station and secondly, by offering retail and catering options to add. The file 04precedents.pdf has been corrupted and could not be replaced. / Dissertation (MInt (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Architecture / unrestricted

The understanding of consumer spatial behaviour, and of the forces influencing the spatial organisation of urban retail activity, can be advanced through an analysis of the processes operating at the consumer-store interface. Such an analysis can contribute to the development of models of consumer spatial behaviour which combine predictive accuracy and theoretical adequacy. A review of the literature indicates that this combination has not characterised the models previously developed in the course of retail geographic research. A model formulated in the field of consumer behaviour theory serves as the conceptual framework for analysing the process whereby a consumer forms preferences for particular stores. This process involves complex interactions at the consumer-store interface between two basic variable sets comprising consumer characteristics and store characteristics. In essence, preferences are formed as the outcome of the consumer comparing perceived store characteristics with a set of predetermined evaluative criteria. These preferences relate to the set of store characteristics which the consumer interprets as sources of satisfaction in the course of shopping experience. The measurement of consumer attitudes towards salient store characteristics provides the basis for operationalising the conceptual model of store preference formation. An empirical study was conducted to identify the structure of consumer preferences for clothing stores and to derive consumer groups consisting of individuals with relatively similar attitude profiles. Unstructured interviews with consumers served to determine a set of salient attitudinal items. These items were then incorporated within a modified Likert attitude scaling instrument, which was administered to a convenience sample group comprising undergraduate students and their parents. The data obtained was factor analysed to identify attitudinal dimensions. Ten factors were extracted which indicated that concepts such as "boutiqueness", "cheapness", "security", "convenience", "exclusiveness" and "reliability" were appropriate to describe the structure of the clothing store preferences of the sample group. Factor scores were computed for each of the respondents and a hierarchical grouping technique was used to derive six consumer groups. Interpretation of the "representative group profiles' showed that the groups could be equated with recognisable shopper types, including the 'teenage boutique' shopper, the 'bargain store' shopper, and the high class 'specialty store' shopper. The findings of this empirical study require further validation and extension in the course of additional research; nevertheless, they indicate the potential utility of attitude measurement as a basis for explaining the spatial preferences of consumers in the retail environment. This is a step towards the development of models which can adequately explain and accurately predict consumer spatial behaviour. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The concern of this paper is to conceptualize a better understanding of the term "image" as it appears in marketing literature especially in relation to products, brands, corporations and retail stores. The primary emphasis is upon retail store image; how it forms, why it forms, what shape it takes and how it may be changed. The need for clarification of the term "image" is vital if marketers are to evolve strategies which will enhance the sale of their goods. The concept of retail store "image" is developed by introducing the formal theory of attitudes as formulated in social psychology, in an effort to show that attitudes give rise to images and that by understanding the nature of attitudes, retail store management might better understand the forces which determine and change the store image. Two propositions are forwarded which serve to provide the theoretical framework for the discussion. The first proposition states that retail store "image" can best be explained in terms of attitude theory and that images are but simplified attitude summations and provide the consumer with a ready preference map of stores arranged in a hierarchical scale. The second proposition theorizes that specified groups tend to form similar "image" maps of preference in a relatively uniform way and with relatively uniform salience. The determinants of store attitudes and therefore images are analyzed carefully. Firstly, the functional, qualities of store location and parking, store hours, layout and display, price and quality relationships, depth and width of assortment and store services are presented as being fully controllable by the retailer. Psychological attributes such as the character of sales personnel, packaging, advertising tone and style of merchandise are also analyzed as controllable determinants. Finally, the uncontrollable determinants of group influences and status connotations are dealt with as they intervene between the store's actions and the perception of these actions by consumers. The study concludes with an attempt to relate the propositions presented with theories of consumer behaviour as presented by other writers in the field of marketing. The model of buyer behaviour evolved by John Howard appears to reinforce the image model presented in this paper. Irving Crisp, dealing with attitude theory in marketing, also adds weight to the formulation of "image" theory upon the base of attitude formation and change. Finally, the theoretical model of Victor Vroom is presented to emphasize the concepts of instrumentality and expectancy as prime factors influencing attitude and image formation. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

A research project was undertaken to thoroughly examine the underlying difficulties in the retail operation of the U.B.C. Bookstore and to resolve the question of optimal store location. Merchandising policy was examined and analyzed on the basis of data obtained from interviews with the store's management staff. At the same time three possible store sites were evaluated by collecting data relevant to the operation of a distance decay simulation model which was used to estimate the value of the sites in terms of total sales. The existing site was found to be the most suitable while the problems in retail management were diagnosed as more far-reaching than simply the function of space limitations. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Contractual arrangements have been the subject of a substantial body of economic research. In particular, economists have sought an explanation for the existence of share contracts. Under this kind of contract, two or more parties share in the output of the production process. These contracts present a problem to economists because they imply more than one residual claimant. Thus incentives are diluted and inefficiency is expected to result. But this type of contract has existed for centuries and continues to be used today. Why is that if they are inefficient? The answer is that under conditions of uncertainty and imperfect information, share contracts can be preferable to fixed-wage (vertical integration) or fixed-rent (market transaction) agreements. In fact, many explanations for the existence of share contracts and their coexistence with fixed-wage and rental arrangements are found in the theoretical literature. While the theoretical literature on the subject of share contracts has flourished over the last decade, empirical analyses of these models has lagged behind. This thesis aims to rectify the situation somewhat. More precisely, recent advances in the theoretical literature are applied to the analysis of franchise contracts. An empirical model of franchising based on profit-maximizing behavior is developed which makes it possible to examine whether the factors theorists have suggested as potential explanations for share contracts are relevant when it comes to explaining what one observes in the context of franchising, and whether their effects are consistent with predictions from the various theories. Both the contract mix, i.e. franchisors' decisions concerning the proportion of stores they want to operate and franchise, and the terms of the franchise contract, fixed and variable fees, are examined. In order to carry out the analysis, data on a cross-section of 548 individual franchisors in 1986 were gathered. These franchisors are involved in a variety of business activities in the U.S., such as Fast-food Restaurants, Business Aids and Services, Construction and Maintenance, and Non-food Retailing. Censoring problems arise from the fact that a number of franchisors in the sample franchise all of their outlets. Also, some firms require no variable or no fixed fee. For these reasons, the maximum likelihood Tobit estimator is used. Empirical work in an area such as this, where theories rely on concepts that are not easily quantifiable, can hardly provide unambiguous answers about the validity of the theories. Nevertheless, the following results emerge from the empirical analysis. First, the effect of risk, measured either by the proportion of discontinued outlets or by the variance of sales in the sector, is found to be the opposite of what pure risk-sharing and one-sided hidden-action models would predict. Second, firms resort to franchising more often when monitoring downstream operators becomes costlier, and use it proportionately less when the value of the inputs they themselves provide increases. This is consistent with two-sided hidden-action models. Results with respect to capital-market-imperfection arguments are rather inconclusive. It appears that franchising relaxes some form of constraint franchisors face in trying to expand their operations, since they use it more when they are growing faster, but whether this is a financial constraint remains unclear. The explanatory power of the model is greater with respect to the proportion of franchised stores than it is for any of the two fees. Thus, in response to changes in the exogenous variables considered here, franchisors, who have a choice between modifying the terms of their franchise contract or changing the proportion of stores they want to franchise, tend to do mostly the latter. Contrary to what one would have expected on a theoretical basis, the observed royalty rates and franchise fees are not negatively correlated in this data set. Combined with the fact that the model is less satisfactory relative to the fees, this suggests that there are considerations in the determination of the royalty rate and the franchise fee that have not been taken into account in the theories. One possibility in the case of the fixed fee is that it may include the price of services provided by the franchisors. It also appears that franchisors use input sales as another means to extract rent from franchisees. This may contribute to the lack of correlation between the two fees. Finally, the equation for the franchise fee was derived under the assumption that all remaining surplus at the downstream level, given the royalty rate, should be extracted through the franchise fee. The lack of relationship between the fees could be an indication that this assumption is incorrect, and that there are in fact rents left at the downstream level. This would be consistent with the existence of queues of potential franchisees in many franchise chains. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

The online market has developed into an equally strong competitor to the offline market. This study examines the market efficiency of the U.S. online and offline market based on the price level, price dispersion, price elasticity and menu cost. A direct comparison of all four market efficiency criteria based on empirical results is not discussed in the literature. Here, the empirical study analyzes and compares the online and offline prices of electronic products between the two largest retailers, Amazon and Walmart. The results clearly indicate that the online market is more efficient than the offline market. Comparing the online prices between the multichannel retailer Walmart and the pure online retailer Amazon we find that for 64.5% of the electronic products, Amazon has the better offer. While 26% of the prices are identical and only 9.5% of the overall prices offered by Walmart are lower. The price advantage of Amazon is explained by the strong price linkage between the online shop and the less efficient offline shop within the retailer Walmart. In 73% of the examined prices, the online and offline prices at Walmart are identical. Furthermore, this price linkage causes a high price dispersion of 14.7% between the online shops of the two retailers. As soon as Walmart breaks the price linkage through sales offers in their online shop, the price dispersion between the two retailers drops to 10.2%.

Magíster en Economía Aplicada / El objetivo de este trabajo es evidenciar las fuentes del poder de negociación explicadas por las características de firmas productoras y distribuidoras en la industria del retail. Con el desarrollo de este trabajo se busca aportar en la investigación sobre negociación de manera empírica determinando la importancia relativa del retailer y de las características propias de cada firma productora, ampliando estudios ya desarrollados como Grennan (2012), Grennan (2013), Allen, Clark, y Houde (2012) y Noton y Elberg (2013). Utilizando un enfoque econométrico de forma reducida se identifica empíricamente cuales son las características que determinan una posición negociadora más ventajosa entre retailers y proveedores y que permiten obtener mayores excedentes en la negociación bilateral para fijar precios de acuerdo en la transacción de bienes de consumo. De los resultados, es posible mencionar que para los retailers es importante el socio negociador, ya que de esto dependerá el margen que obtengan en la comercialización de los productos. Las firmas que manejan parte importante de las ventas de la cadena de supermercados tienen mayor poder de negociación, dado que las ganancias del retailer dependerán en gran medida de la venta de sus productos, generando un lazo de dependencia. Por su parte, los productores pertenecientes a las categorías más concentradas podrán ejercer fuertemente su poder de venta ante los retailers para obtener mejores precios en la negociación. Desde una tendencia a estructuras monopólicas se justificarían mayores precios de venta a favor de los productores. Los proveedores que concentran sus ventas en pocas categorías tienen mayor dependencia con el retailer para que comercialice sus productos, por lo tanto, éste último puede ejercer fuertemente su poder de compra. No obstante, se observa que altas concentraciones en ambas variables podrían dejar a las firmas en una posición muy ventajosa y con un alto poder de negociación. En este sentido, las características referentes a las participaciones de ventas y niveles de concentración influyen significativamente en la negociación, puesto que entregan mayor poder de mercado a las partes y por ende una mejor posición en la negociación, lo que permitiría extraer márgenes mayores.

This paper is a follow-up to the 2012 efforts of John Fife that identified Community Development Financial Institution-led food retail intervention policies as the most effective in bringing supermarkets to underserved urban areas. Specifically cited in the conclusion was the success of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative. To further this research, this paper will utilize a similar structured inquiry to evaluate CDFI-led policies that were implemented during or since the FFFI program. Through five case studies (Pennsylvania (updated), California, Colorado, New Orleans, and New York) this paper examines the creation and results of several different retail intervention policies. Each case study provides the conditions predicating the need to improve food access and the policy instruments used to address the issues. The paper assesses the policies based on eight features: strategy components, aeris rating, funding stream, viability, duration, scope, cost-effectiveness, and replicability. The analysis compares the cases to determine the most successful and replicable policy used to address the food access issues plaguing urban areas commonly referred to as food deserts. The paper makes several conclusions regarding CDFI-led retail intervention policies. Successful retail intervention policies require strong and stable CDFI's administering policy funds to sustain operations. The geographic scope of the policy, in terms of statewide versus citywide, does not alter the potential of a policy so much as population density. The overall fund size and thus size of funding packages available to individual projects must be complementary to available funds on the market, which varies by area. Finally, policies are most effective with sufficient seed funding that carries few regulations or compliance requirements. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu