Beyond promotion-based store switching: Antecedents and patterns of systematic multiple-store shopping (revised version).

In this paper, we demonstrate both theoretically and empirically that single-purpose multiple store shopping is not only driven by opportunistic, promotion-based motivations, but may also result from a longer term planning process based on stable store characteristics. We find that consumers may systematically visit multiple stores to take advantage of two types of store complementarity. In the case of 'fixed cost complementarity', consumers alternate visits to high and low fixed cost stores to balance transportation and holding costs against acquisition costs. 'Category preference complementarity' occurs when different stores offer the best value for different product categories, and may induce consumers to visit these stores together on combined shopping trips. In both cases, multiple store shopping leads to a shift from share-of-customers to share-of-wallet retail competition.Multiple store shopping; Spatial competition; Store choice; Planning; Processes; Characteristics; Complementarity; Cost; Costs; Category; Preference; Value; Product; Shopping trip; Competition; Choice; Patterns;

An empirical research of the factors determining customer behaviour in food retail stores

For years the Institute of Marketing at Szent István University has been conducting research in customer and consumer behaviour. This research project focuses on which food shops retail customers choose when it comes to traditional food. This paper briefly summarizes qualitative findings and offers a preliminary analysis of the project’s quantitative stage. Using six focus groups, the qualitative phase tried to identify factors that impact on how food retail shops were chosen. The goal was to pinpoint individual steps in the decision-making process. Shops selected for study were: hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount stores, small shops, markets, specialised stores and cash & carry stores. Following this, using data from the qualitative results, a national representative survey was conducted. The survey used a standardised questionnaire with 1,019 subjects. The survey concentrated on hypermarket customers, as well as identifying this customer group’s segments, and analysing their decision-making traits.Kelly’s repertory grid technique, Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Monroe & Guiltinan’s store choice model, Donovan & Rossiter’s store atmosphere model, store characteristics, segments of hypermarket patrons., Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Physikalische Modellierung der Wechselwirkungen zwischen thermischen Systemen in Supermärkten

This thesis contributes to modelling and quantification of interactions between thermal systems in supermarkets. The main goal of this thesis is to describe the interactions between thermal systems in supermarkets by means of physical models and to quantify their energetic impact. To achieve this overall goal, three subgoals are defined. The first subgoal is the breakdown of supermarkets into control volumes and the definition of physical interactions between them. In this work, the usage of physical modelling implies two aspects: Firstly, using first principle models and secondly using physical connections between objects. The second subgoal refers to the analysis of the air exchange between refrigerated display cabinets and the sales area. The focus lays on the quantification of the air exchange and the determination of the influence of door openings on this air exchange. In laboratory tests, an adapted tracer gas method using CO2 is used to determine the air change rates between the display cabinets and the sales room for three typical supermarket cabinets. Additionally, a second way of quantifying the impact of door openings on the air infiltration uses the so-called thermal entrainment factor (TEF). The applications of the developed models are exemplified. The prediction of the energy consumption of a period of 28 days deviates only 3.3% from measurement data. The analysis of the effects of incoming and outgoing customers on fresh air change rates is the third subgoal of this thesis. This air exchange is highly relevant because it affects the thermal loads of the heating and air conditioning system as well as the need for ventilation. In order to estimate the air change rates, a model of the CO2 concentration in the sales room air is developed, which uses the air change rates of the closed and opened entrance door as parameters. The prediction of the CO2 concentration works very well: the mean absolute error of 26ppm is below the accuracy of the measurement data. Additionally, the entire supermarket is simulated with the objective to predict the humidity of the sales room air. The humidity ratio in the test supermarket for a period of 14 day could be predicted with a mean absolute error of 0.3g/kg, which again is below the accuracy of the measurement data. Finally, several of the interactions between thermal systems in a supermarket are quantified exemplarily. The energetic impact of the shopping of one customer is analysed for three scenarios.Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Beschreibung der Wechselwirkungen zwischen thermischen Systemen in Supermärkten sowie die Quantifizierung ihres energetischen Einflusses. Hierzu werden drei Teilziele definiert. Das erste Teilziel besteht in der Unterteilung eines Supermarktes in Bilanzräume und der Definition von Schnittstellen zur Beschreibung der Wechselwirkungen. Die typischerweise in einem Supermarkt vorhandenen Systeme Kühlmöbel, Kälteanlage sowie Verkaufsraum werden in dieser Arbeit betrachtet. Das zweite Teilziel bezieht sich auf die Analyse des Luftaustausches zwischen den Kühlmöbeln und dem Verkaufsraum. Dieser ist besonders wichtig, da er einerseits zum Wärme- und Feuchtigkeitseintrag in das Kühlmöbel führt, was den Kühlbedarf erhöht. Andererseits hat dieser Luftaustausch eine Abkühlung sowie Entfeuchtung der Verkaufsraumluft zur Folge. Der Schwerpunkt der Untersuchung liegt auf der Quantifizierung dieses Luftaustausches sowie der Bestimmung des Türöffnungseinflusses. In Laborversuchen wird eine adaptierte Tracergas Methode mit dem Gas CO2 verwendet, um den Luftaustausch typischer Kühlmöbel mit Türen zu untersuchen. Weiterhin wird eine zweite Methode zur Bestimmung des Türöffnungseinflusses vorgestellt, die auf dem als dimensionslose Infiltrationsrate interpretierbaren thermal entrainment factor (TEF) basiert. Die Simulationsmodelle und gemessenen Infiltrationsraten in Kühlmöbeln werden genutzt, um den Strombedarf der Kühlmöbel und der R-744 Verbundkälteanlage eines realen Supermarktes vorauszuberechnen. Die Abweichung des für einen Zeitraum von 28 Tagen vorausberechneten Energiebedarfs beträgt 3.3%. Die Untersuchung des Einflusses von herein- und herausgehenden Kunden auf die Luftwechselraten des Verkaufsraumes stellt das dritte Teilziel dieser Arbeit dar. Hierzu wird ein Modell zur Bestimmung der CO2 Konzentration in der Verkaufsraumluft entwickelt, welches die Luftwechselraten mit geöffneter bzw. geschlossener Eingangstür als Parameter nutzt. Der CO2 Gehalt kann mit einer Abweichung von 26ppm und somit innerhalb der Messungenauigkeit vorhergesagt werden. Eine weitere Anwendung der Simulationstechnik wird vorgestellt: Der gesamte Supermarkt wird simuliert mit dem Ziel die Wasserbeladung im Verkaufsraum vorherzusagen. Dies gelingt mit einer sehr geringen Abweichung (0.3g/kg). Abschließend wird der energetische Einfluss eines einzelnen Kunden und die von ihm verursachten Wechselwirkungen für drei Szenarien (Winter, Frühling, Sommer) bewertet

Beyond promotion-based store switching: Antecedents and patterns of systematic multiple-store shopping.

In this paper, we demonstrate that single-purpose multiple store shopping is not only driven by opportunistic, promotion-based motivations, but may also be part of a longer term shopping planning process based on stable store characteristics. We find that consumers may systematically visit multiple stores to take advantage of two types of store complementarity. In the case of 'fixed cost complementarity', consumers alternate visits to high and low fixed cost stores to balance transaction and holding costs against acquisition costs. 'Category preference complementarity' occurs when different stores offer the best value for different product categories. Tying these multiple store shopping motivations to characteristics of grocery stores leads to interesting new insights into the nature of spatial retail competition.Category; Characteristics; Choice; Competition; Cost; Costs; Multiple store shopping; Patterns; Planning; Preference; Processes; Product; Spatial competition; Store choice; Value;

The effects of shelf display on online grocery choices.

Research on shelf effects in traditional grocery stores has shown that a product's absolute and relative shelf position may strongly affect consumer choices. In this paper, we examine whether and how such shelf effects translate into an online grocery context. We find that a product's choice probability increases when presented on the first screen or located near focal items - especially when the latter are out-of-stock. These primacy and proximity effects have a stronger impact on choice decisions when assortments are more difficult to evaluate and when a clear shelf organization facilitates the use of shelf-based choice heuristics.Effects; Shelf; Choice;

Supply Chain Management analysis: a simulation approach of the Value Chain Operations Reference model (VCOR)

International audienceThe impact of globalization and worldwide competition has forced firms to modify their strategies towards a real time operation with respect to customer's requirements. This behaviour, together with the communication possibilities offered by the actual Information and Communication Technologies, allows the top management to move towards the concept of extended enterprise in which a collaborative link is established among suppliers, commercial partners and customers. When the information flows involve each actor of the chain, from suppliers to the final distribution centers, the extended enterprise becomes a virtual firm, that can be defined as a set of stand-alone operational units that acts to reconfigure themselves as a value chain in order to adapt to the business opportunities given by the market. The present work is intended to verify through a simulation approach the quantitative advantages that can be obtained by the introduction of the Value Chain concept into the Supply Chain Management (SCM). The paper, after a description of the two most known (SCM) methods - SCOR and VCOR - makes a comparison between them by the customer's point of view. In the second part of the work a simulation model has been developed to verify the advantage that the VCOR is able to obtain, validating it on an industrial case study