Android is an open source mobile operating system contributed by Google. In general, Google Play is the most secure place to download the mobile applications for Android system. [1] Products from this website are surely safe promised by Google Company. But there are many other third-party app stores around the world offering similar software. One incentive for them is that the security policy on different platforms varies a lot, and Android developers are free to distribute apps in any intended ways, which leads to a certain risk in the assorted stores such as malware. Therefore, it is crucial to know which application store can be trusted from the various app stores. [2] To support our research, a tool named APK Safety Test is developed to compare the APK files from different application stores with the version on Google Play. In this study, nine stores around the world are chosen and 20 various applications from them are checked in real-time by using the tool. From this research, people can learn the different risk how can be detected. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the result of risks how to affect the applications. Keywords: Android application, Android Stores, APK files, Risk

The role of internet and the digitalized world are more relevant than ever before. The new phenomena of digital marketing has created a paradigm shift of existing marketing with new ways to market. Social media plays a significant role in this change, since it allows businesses to easily engage with its customers and to maintain relationships. For small and local businesses, this change has created great opportunities to interact more with the local audience. However, not all such businesses have the sufficient knowledge to optimize the usage of social media. The focus of the study is to explore the current usage of social media in local businesses context. Furthermore, we will suggest social media marketing strategies that will help local business to improve its customer relations. The qualitative approach is applied in this study by using interviews and observations, which is the main source of primary data collection. The conclusion was that local grocery stores still rely much more on traditional marketing methods. However, local grocery stores still use and value social media, but most are unclear of the true benefits and strategies when using social media. Lacking strategies consist of planning the social media marketing strategies, but also lacks the formal management of critical situations on social media. Overall, local stores perform well in building relations with its customers using social media however, there is a scope of further improvements.

The South African economy and especially its retail environment are continuously experiencing the impact of globalisation. The continuous expansions of large public retail businesses that consist of numerous chain stores are evident in both the local and international arena. South Africa has witnessed large amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) invested into its retail sector. The above mentioned facts hold a serious challenge for small and medium retail businesses in South Africa (SMEs). In order for SME retail businesses to stay competitive against these global retail businesses, it needs to be able to withstand the competition in the environment it operates. This is not always an easy challenge given the limited access to resources that the majority of SME businesses have access to. This study presents how South African SME retail businesses can remain competent and profitable in spite of serious competition from large retail businesses of both local and international origin. In order to suggest recommendations for South African SME retail businesses to be more competent in relation to large retail businesses, the researcher identified some areas of improvement, which is perceived to be the most important for enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. These variables include uniqueness, entrepreneurial leadership, cost effectiveness, technology and quality management. These variables were researched to understand how they affect SME retail businesses and where tested using quantitative analysis to ascertain if managers and owners of SME retail businesses believed that these variables would help them to improve the level of competitiveness in relation to large retail businesses. The results indicated that SME owners and managers felt that uniqueness, entrepreneurial leadership, cost effectiveness, technology and quality management all contributes to the competitiveness of their business. Empirical evidence shows that owners and managers of SME retail business felt that all of the above factors will result in their SME retail business being more competitive as compared to large retail businesses. The former will lead to better chances of success which again are most likely to lead to increased probability.

Subjects, 432 convenience store cashiers, were divided into long-tenure and short-tenure groups. Chi-square analysis of application blank information for a weighting sample drawn from both groups revealed two items which significantly (p < .05) differentiated between the long tenure and short-tenure groups: number of previous jobs and full-time/part-time preference. Response weights were computed for these two items and used to calculate composite scores for the remaining holdout sample. A significant reduction in turnover would have occurred at the highest composite score level, if used as a hiring cut off. Results were tempered by several considerations, including a high percentage of false negatives and an insignificant linear relationship between composite scores and tenure.

Homeostatic synaptic plasticity (HSP) regulates synaptic strength in response to changing neuronal firing patterns. This form of plasticity is defined by neurons’ ability to sense and over time integrate their level of firing activity, and to actively maintain it within a defined range. For instance, a compensatory increase in synaptic strength occurs when neuronal activity is chronically attenuated. However, the underpinning cellular mechanisms of this fundamental neural process remain poorly understood. We previously found that during activity deprivation, HSP leads to an increase in α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic (AMPA) receptor function as well as a shift in subunit composition from Ca2+-impermeable GluA2-containing AMPA receptors to Ca2+-permeable GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors not only at synapses, but also at extrasynaptic sites. Neurons therefore appear to be actively enhancing Ca2+ entry, possibly as a compensatory mechanism in response to a prolonged Ca2+ deficit. To test whether the homeostatic response may, at least in part, be mediated by internal Ca2+ stores, we depleted endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ stores by using the Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPases (SERCA) pump blocker cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) for a prolonged period. Interestingly, we have found that prolonged Ca2+-store depletion leads not only to an increase in synaptic strength per se, but also a cell-wide increase in synaptic Ca2+-permeable GluA2-lacking AMPARs. This increase in Ca2+ influx following periods of inactivity is conceptually highly reminiscent of a store-operated response, whereby cells re-establish their calcium levels following Ca2+ store depletion using cell surface Ca2+ channels. Our results suggest that neurons use synaptic receptors as means to regulate store Ca2+ levels, thus significantly expanding our understanding of the repertoire used by neurons to modulate cellular excitability.

This thesis draws together and reformulates two literatures in order to provide a fresh perspective on the ways that commodities are important in the construction of femininity. On the one hand, studies within retail history and geography, with few exceptions, ignore the salience of shopping as a cultural practice and retail institutions as contexts where the contours of shopping and the imbrication of commodities with everyday life are shaped. On the other hand, scholarship in feminism and cultural studies has persuasively documented the percolation of commodities throughout society, social relations and femininity, but have effectively ignored one of the sites where commodities and consumption practices become intertwined with femininity: retailing. This latter literature is critiqued on the basis that: retailing is ignored through an inadequate conceptualization of consumption; the subject and femininity are insufficiently theorized; and the importance of place in both of these ignored. An alternative framework is offered, drawing on poststructuralist insights, which facilitates an understanding of the location of retailing in relation to consumption, the importance of place in retailing and the ways that retailing is potentially part of the construction of femininity. In particular, retailing is shown to be involved in the construction of femininity through control over the activity of shopping and shoppers, and attempts to fix the meanings of commodities. These discussions of the construction of femininity through shopping in the context of retailing are grounded through a case study of the Woodward's department store in downtown Vancouver between 1945 and 1960. The case study demonstrates the role of retailing in the construction of femininity, and in particular highlights the importance of place in such constructions. The retailing discourses permeating Woodward's were simultaneously place-making discourses, and the characteristics of the place created pervaded the meanings of the commodities and the activity of shopping. The time and place of the case study also throws into sharp relief the operation of two discourses that have been identified as important in the construction of femininity: modernity and familialism. The analysis developed here shows how they intertwine to produce the femininity of shopping. In particular, the feminine shopper is shown as the outcome of a relation, constituted by power and knowledge, between the salesclerk and the shopper, such that shoppers are positioned as inferior and feminine. In so doing, the maligning of both femininity and shopping is demonstrated. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Abstract Purpose:The purpose of this study is to explore in-store touchpoints that help creating a positive customer experience in apparel stores. The aim of this thesis is to provide further insight that may be used for implementation of experiential marketing in stores.   Problem:As e-commerce channels are gaining more customers to the detriment of brick and mortar stores, the authors of this thesis believe it is relevant to study what apparel stores can do to enhance their customer experience. There is substantial research done on customer experience but not as much on the combination of touchpoints in-store and how that connects to customer experience. This literature gap forms the problem discussion and the research question the thesis strives to explore.   Method:An exploratory strategy with a combination of deductive and inductive research approach has been applied for the study. Through secondary data and literature search the authors explored the field of experience and in-store touchpoint elements contributing to customer experience and interaction. Further, a qualitative approach was used to form case studies on three companies; Firstly, Qmatic a global leader in helping companies seamlessly integrate online and offline touchpoints, through pioneering software and hardware systems. Secondly, the women’s fashion brand NA-KD, having sold clothes to more than 150 countries in less than two years. Thirdly, Partners, a traditional family-owned brick and mortar store selling apparel to gentlemen.   Findings and Conclusion:The analysed empirical findings present that apparel stores work differently with touchpoints depending on who their customer is. Based on the three case studies, the authors conclude that “employee and customer interaction” is the most prominent touchpoint connected with in-store environment. This element can be reinforced by other touchpoints customized for specific brands and stores, which also plays a big role for the customer experience and interaction.

This thesis deals with shopping and sale of grocery online focusing on Tesco Stores CR,a.s. The aim of the study is to evaluate the Tesco e-shop from user's perspective, compare it with the competition and to propose steps towards optimization. The first part of thesis describes general information about the Internet and e-commerce, online grocery market and its specifics. Following part includes analyzeds of grocery e-shops based on multi-criteria evaluation and comparison with the Tesco service. This thesis should help the company Tesco optimize their web and activities.

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

D.Comm. / The South African Petroleum Industry is very competitive and is vital to the economic growth of the country. It is the basis for much of the nation's productivity, from keeping national transport flowing to producing products and services. The South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA) was formed to further matters of common interest amongst competitive providers of Petroleum Industry Road Conveniences (PIRCs), and to promote good ethics, high industrial standards, competent governance and effective communications within the industry. PIRCs are distributed on most South African roads. This study emphasises and focuses on the location of PIRCs on national routes only. Various factors and theories, which influence the location of a PIRC, are analysed by means of a literature study, personal investigation and practical experience. Attention is given to the physical and legal aspects, which can influence the location of a PIRC. Thereafter, the macro, market and micro considerations are discussed. Particular attention is given to Porter's Five Forces of Competitiveness and the value chain.