Magister Commercii - MCom / Shopping patterns of customers in South Africa since the outbreak of COVID-19 has shifted in more ways than one way. For instance, where and when consumers purchase household items. Because of COVID-19, many consumers continue to reassess their shopping preferences and behaviour. This research aims to determine the switching behaviour of consumers in Cape Town concerning the choices of retail outlets for groceries and household items. To date especially given the novelty of COVID-19 and the unprecedented lockdowns, the factors informing consumers' choices and the resultant behaviours remain largely unknown. The research opens the opportunity for further research into the phenomena that the pandemic has revealed. Also, the research adds to the body of knowledge of switching behaviour within the retail industry. The dissertation adopts the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a conceptual framework for the research. To more realistically test the effect of independent variables on the dependent variable (change in a retail outlet), the moderating effects of gender were also investigated. A survey design in which 158 respondents participated in the study was conducted. Quantitative data collection using a questionnaire was employed using Google Forms to comply with social distancing requirements and limit the possible transmission of COVID-19 between researcher and participants and among participants themselves if pen and paper questionnaires were used.

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The broad objective of this study is to examine how assortment factors and category performance are related within the context of specialty retailing. This study formulates two clusters of research questions. The first cluster of research questions focuses on product assortment in general, for example assortment variety and composition. The second cluster of research questions concentrates on a specific area of product assortment, that is, private label products. An organic retailer in Australia collaborates by providing its assortment records and sales reports. The Australian organic retailing industry is an ideal candidate for this study for 1) it is specialty retailing, and 2) the supply situation allows organic retailers considerable flexibility to experiment with different assortment compositions. This study analyses store level cross sub category data and, to supplement this, it conducts a qualitative study and collects field data. Included in the cross sub category analyses are approximately 140 to 180 organic sub categories. The results show that assortment variety has a positive influence on sub category sales. The strength of this positive relationship varies across different sub category types, for example food or non-food. For the private label analyses, the results show that, within the focal store, private label SKUs are more likely to be present in sub categories with larger sales and with supermarket competition present. This study also finds that a deeper manufacturer brand assortment hurts private label performance. This study contributes to a body of cross category empirical generalisations about the complex decisions retailers face by examining the effects of assortment decisions within the context of specialty retailing. It provides some clear empirical evidence for how assortment factors and sub category performance are related through an empirical investigation in a bricks and mortar retail environment. In addition, it tests the generalisability of extant private label research beyond the much discussed conventional supermarket industry and convenience consumer goods contexts. Keywords: assortment, private label, store brand, specialty retailing, cross category, sub category, empirical investigation, organic retailing, Australia

The broad objective of this study is to examine how assortment factors and category performance are related within the context of specialty retailing. This study formulates two clusters of research questions. The first cluster of research questions focuses on product assortment in general, for example assortment variety and composition. The second cluster of research questions concentrates on a specific area of product assortment, that is, private label products. An organic retailer in Australia collaborates by providing its assortment records and sales reports. The Australian organic retailing industry is an ideal candidate for this study for 1) it is specialty retailing, and 2) the supply situation allows organic retailers considerable flexibility to experiment with different assortment compositions. This study analyses store level cross sub category data and, to supplement this, it conducts a qualitative study and collects field data. Included in the cross sub category analyses are approximately 140 to 180 organic sub categories. The results show that assortment variety has a positive influence on sub category sales. The strength of this positive relationship varies across different sub category types, for example food or non-food. For the private label analyses, the results show that, within the focal store, private label SKUs are more likely to be present in sub categories with larger sales and with supermarket competition present. This study also finds that a deeper manufacturer brand assortment hurts private label performance. This study contributes to a body of cross category empirical generalisations about the complex decisions retailers face by examining the effects of assortment decisions within the context of specialty retailing. It provides some clear empirical evidence for how assortment factors and sub category performance are related through an empirical investigation in a bricks and mortar retail environment. In addition, it tests the generalisability of extant private label research beyond the much discussed conventional supermarket industry and convenience consumer goods contexts. Keywords: assortment, private label, store brand, specialty retailing, cross category, sub category, empirical investigation, organic retailing, Australia

The aim of this master thesis is to define fast fashion and fast fashion retailing, and describe specifics of their business activities with deep focus on the Czech market. The theoretical part reviews literature dealing with international strategy and management and fashion and fast fashion retailing. The empirical part then focuses on real-life business cases. In order to illustrate the behaviour of fast fashion retailers on the Czech market, a case study method is employed. The attention is narrowed on three chosen fast fashion retailers MANGO, Zara and H&M. The separate case studies on MANGO, Zara and H&M focus on retailers' presence in the Czech market. The retailers' position on the market and strategies are then compared with the aim to identify the most successful fast fashion retailer and verify whether the hypothesis that the first mover to the market gains the competitive advantage is true for the chosen fast fashion retailers in the Czech market. Further, the work tries to find possible factors of the retailers' success in the Czech market.

This research is an exploration of how the capabilities of the Internet may have influenced customer preference structures and how these influences may, in turn, have affected loyalty behaviours. These relationships are explored from both customers’ and companies’ perspectives. A theoretical model is developed which comprises four main components. These are (1) pre-purchase preference structures; (2) post-purchase preference structures (3) the Internet channel and (4) loyalty behaviours. The Internet channel is shown as having a modifying effect on pre- and post-purchase preference structures, which in turn relate to influences in loyalty behaviours. From the customer’s perspective the theoretical model was quantitatively tested by developing pre- and post-purchase preference structures from a choice-based conjoint experiment on a sample of online and offline grocery shoppers. The results showed that these preference structures differed significantly on a number of attributes. The theoretical model was further tested by linking the utility values from the choice-based conjoint experiment to loyalty variables in a structural equation model. The results showed that the theoretical model needed adjustment to fit the underlying data. The offline shoppers’ group model had a better fit to the data than did the online group. The company perspective was developed through a longitudinal study of four U.K. companies in different industries. The qualitative data collected in these studies was compared and contrasted with the theoretical model. The emergent pattern within this analysis showed that companies with a strong understanding of customer preference structures in a traditional marketing channel, was no guarantee that the capabilities of the Internet would be used to strengthen performance on those preferences. One common theme that emerged from interviews with companies was that those who rapidly developed new levels of performance on customer preferences using the capabilities of the Internet had made the Internet a major component of their business model. The qualitative data showed companies as either adopting a transactional or an informational approach to their Internet channel strategy with radically different implications for their business models.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-05-20T13:25:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2014 - Timoteo Andre Stuker.pdf: 2292716 bytes, checksum: 2f422b087fcce44075984f39efd5f016 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-20T13:25:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014 - Timoteo Andre Stuker.pdf: 2292716 bytes, checksum: 2f422b087fcce44075984f39efd5f016 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-12 / Nenhuma / Para produtos de moda, a demanda é de difícil previsão por modelos lineares ou polinomiais e o ciclo de vida dos produtos é curto. Os varejistas são obrigados a tomarem as decisões de sortimento de produtos e quantidades de compra e estoques bem antes da época da venda, quando apenas informações limitadas e imprecisas estão disponíveis. As decisões são tomadas basicamente confiando em dados qualitativos e questões subjetivas. Os erros na previsão da demanda associados a esse modelo de tomada de decisão se aproxima de 50%. No entanto, as previsões de demanda podem ser melhoradas atualizando as previsões com base nas vendas iniciais. Nesse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é propor um modelo de previsão de demanda baseado no aprendizado com as vendas iniciais para uma cadeia de suprimentos de um varejista de calçados. O modelo foi aplicado em uma rede de varejo calçadista brasileira, na coleção de Verão 2013/2014. O modelo de previsão de demanda foi proposto em duas etapas: (i) a primeira que utilizou dados históricos de vendas agregados por subgrupo de produtos, por loja; e (ii) a segunda que utilizou dados das vendas iniciais para desagregar a previsão por subgrupo na previsão por produtos e cores. Para gerar a previsão de longo prazo foi utilizado o modelo logístico. A Razão de Incremento Semanal (RIS), que é a previsão de vendas semanal por subgrupo dividida pela quantidade de produtos vendidos, foi utilizada como dados de entrada para decompor a previsão em produtos e cores. Além dessa informação, são entradas a quantidade vendida na primeira semana e a quantidade de produtos em estoque. A partir da modificação do cálculo da cobertura de estoques para incluir o RIS, tem-se a previsão de demanda atualizada. A previsão também considera a demanda de substituição e a quebra de grade. Os resultados encontrados demonstraram que o modelo de previsão de demanda atualizado com os dados de vendas obteve desempenho superior ao modelo de previsão original. O modelo de previsão de longo prazo se mostrou adequado para dois dos três subgrupos de produtos analisados. As métricas para medição do desempenho preditivo do modelo utilizadas foram o APE (absloute percentual errors ou erro percentual absoluto) e o MAPE* (média absoluta percentual dos erros ajustada). Foram considerados dois horizontes de previsão, seis e oito semanas. O desempenho do modelo conforme a métrica APE para seis semanas de horizonte de previsão foi de 55,199 para o modelo e de 207,511 para o modelo de previsão original. Já para oito semanas de horizonte de previsão foi de 51,232 para o modelo e de 93,212 para o modelo de previsão original. Conforme a métrica MAPE* para seis semanas de horizonte de previsão, o modelo apresentou resultados de 87,598 e o modelo de previsão original apresentou 239,777. E para oito semanas de horizonte de previsão o resultado foi de 88,454 para o modelo e de 167,515 para o modelo de previsão original. Como o modelo foi aplicado somente a um caso, o mesmo não pode ser considerado como validado. Não se pode esperar que os mesmos resultados sejam encontrados em casos diferentes. / For fashion products, the demand is very unpredictable and life cycle of products is short. Retailers are required to make decisions in the assortment and quantities of purchases and inventory a long time before the time of sale, when only limited and inaccurate information is available. Decisions are made relying primarily on qualitative data and subjective issues. Errors in demand forecast associated with this model of decision-making can approach 50%. However, demand forecasts can be improved by updating the predictions based on early sales. In this context, the aim of this work is to propose a demand forecast model based on learning with early sales for a footwear retailer supply chain. The model was applied in a Brazilian footwear retailer in the 2013/2014 Summer Collection. The demand forecasting model was proposed in two stages: (i) the first stage that used historical data aggregated by subgroup, considering product sales per store; and (ii) the second stage that used data from early sales to disaggregate the demand forecast into products and colors. To generate long-term forecast the logistic model was used. The Weekly Increment Proportion (WIP), which is the weekly demand forecast per subgroup divided by the number of products sold, was used as input data to decompose the demand forecast into products and colors. In addition to this information, the other entries are the quantity sold in the first week and the quantity of products in stock. Modifying the inventory turnover calculation to include WIP, we have the updated demand forecast. The forecast also considers the substitution demand and broken grade. The results demonstrated that the demand forecast model based on learning with early sales obtained higher results than original demand forecast model. The long-term forecast model was adequate for two of the three product subgroups analyzed. The metrics for measuring the predictive performance of the model used were APE (absolute percentual errors) and the MAPE* (adjusted mean absolute percentage error). Two forecast horizons were considered, six and eight weeks. The model performance according to the metric APE forecasting six weeks was 55,199 for the model and 207,511 for the original model prediction. Forecasting eight weeks it was 51,232 for the model and 93.212 for the original model prediction. According to the metric MAPE* forecasting six weeks, the model presented a result of 87.598 and the original model presented 239.777. And forecasting eight weeks the result was 88.454 for the model and 167.515 for the original model prediction. As the model was applied to only one case, it cannot be considered validated. The same results are not expected in different cases.

L'introduction des formats de distribution alimentaire modernes dans le paysage commercial des pays émergents suscite des interrogations sur l'impact que cela produit sur les comportements de consommation et de magasinage des acheteurs locaux. La persistance du commerce traditionnel, ancré dans la culture locale, couplée à l'implantation d'enseignes de distribution modernes, renvoyant à l'image « idéalisée » de l'Occident, exerce une tension sur les goûts et les habitudes de consommation autochtones. Cette recherche doctorale explore les significations culturelles données aux pratiques de consommation et de magasinage dans ces pays en s'appuyant sur une importante étude qualitative de type ethnographique réalisée au Maroc. Les résultats montrent que l'introduction des formats modernes de vente sur ce marché émergent qui porte des valeurs socio-culturelles différentes de celles des pays d'importation est à l'origine de l'apparition de comportements hybrides ou de pratiques d'adoption sélective à travers lesquels les consommateurs cherchent à articuler des codes et des dimensions symboliques contrastés en vue de donner sens à leur consommation. En outre, la dualité du système de distribution accentue la logique du jeu des classes en amplifiant les tendances au marquage social du statut via la mise en scène (au sens de Goffman) de la consommation et de l'appropriation des espaces de vente. Par ailleurs, si l'introduction des nouveaux formats de vente constitue une vraie menace pour le commerce traditionnel, elle favorise par la même occasion la réorganisation du secteur, la diversification de l'activité de ses acteurs et l'amélioration de leurs pratiques de gestion. / The introduction of modern food retail formats in the emerging countries' commercial landscape raises questions on the impact it causes on the local buyers' consumption and shopping behavior. Anchored in the local culture, the persistence of traditional business coupled with the implementation of modern retail chains that put forth an ‘idealistic' image of the Western societies causes tensions on consumers' native tastes and habits. This doctoral research explores the cultural meanings given by consumers to shopping and consumption practices in these countries based on a large ethnographic qualitative study performed in Morocco. Results show that the introduction of modern sales formats in emerging markets where socio-cultural values differ from those of the importing countries causes hybrid behaviors or selective adoption practices to emerge through which consumers try to articulate contrasted codes and symbolic dimensions in an effort to give meaning to their consumption. In addition, the dual distribution system accentuates the social class game amplifying trends in social status tagging through the staging of consumption (as per Goffman) and the appropriation of the retail spaces. Furthermore, if the introduction of new retail formats is a real threat to traditional retailers, it favors by the same token the reorganization of this sector, the diversification of the activities by its actors as well as the enhancement of their management practices.

<p><p>Through interaction with customers, companies can acquire knowledge about- and satisfy the needs of customers. In retailing, the ranges of products are standardized and staffing numbers are scarce. How do companies in retailing deal with adaptation towards their customers given the small staffing numbers? The purpose of this study is to examine if and if so, how companies in the Swedish retailing industry are making adaptations towards their customers and also why these adaptations are being made. To answer this purpose, observations in the retailing industry are conducted and the results show that companies adapt to customers’ needs. However, this is not done through personalization. Finally, this study shows that companies in the retailing industry adapt to their customers mainly through mass-customization.</p></p> / <p><p>Genom interaktion med kunder kan företag skaffa sig kunskap om kundernas behov och tillgodose dessa. Inom dagligvaruhandeln är sortimenten standardiserade och personalstyrkan liten, något som torde missgynna interaktionen mellan parterna. Hur arbetar företag i dagligvaruhandeln med anpassningar till sina kunders behov när personaltätheten är förhållandevis låg? Syftet med studien är att undersöka om och i sådana fall hur ett företag inom den svenska dagligvaruhandeln anpassar sig till sina kunders behov, samt varför detta sker. För att besvara syftet görs observationer inom dagligvaruhandeln och resultaten visar att anpassning görs, dock ej personlig anpassning till enskilda kunders behov. Avslutningsvis visar studien att anpassning sker inom dagligvaruhandeln och att detta främst sker genom massanpassning.</p></p> / Betyg: VG