Applying Recommendation Techniques In Conventional Grocery Retailing

In grocery retailing, promotions and recommendations, derived from traditional data mining techniques, apply uniformly to all customers and not to individual ones, thus failing to meet each customer’s personal needs. On the other hand, recommender systems have been widely explored in the field of e-commerce managing to provide targeted personalized recommendations for products and services. Despite the great success of recommender systems in internet retailing, their application in many other fields remains practically unexplored. RFID and pervasive networking technologies now offer the potentials to utilize recommender systems in physical environment. The scope of this paper is to examine the individual characteristics of the new domain along with the applicability of various recommendations techniques. The results indicate the superiority of the e-commerce recommendation techniques against the traditional approaches currently used in grocery retailing

Virtual store atmosphere in internet retailing: Measuring virtual retail store layout effects on consumer buying behaviour

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The research presented in this dissertation is concerned with the effects of the "virtual store atmosphere" on consumer buying behaviour within the context of Internet retailing. More specifically, the focus of this research is to investigate whether the virtual store layout, as a major virtual store atmosphere determinant, affects consumer buying behaviour during shopping activity within a virtual grocery store over the Web. The present research is of a multidisciplinary nature and belongs to the field of Internet Retailing, in which there is not to date an exhaustive established theory available as the case is for conventional retailing. Therefore, the relevant literature covers the established theories in the areas of Marketing, Retailing and Consumer Behaviour along with current research in Internet retailing. Moreover, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) served as an important theoretical tool as far as Web site design principles and guidelines are concerned. The research hypotheses were mainly generated based on the conventional retail store layout literature review. They were tested through a laboratory experiment employing a causal research approach. To that end, a virtual retail laboratory store employing the three most common conventional retailing layouts (i.e., grid, freeform, and racetrack) was developed in three versions (i.e., one version per layout), following the concept and rules applied in each specific layout type. Therefore, the layout was the only manipulated variable (treatment), since all other potential influencing factors remained the same. The findings of the present study indicate that conventional retailing store layout theory is not applicable on its present form in the context of Internet retailing. Furthermore, the layout was found to affect consumer buying behaviour regarding "perceived usefulness towards searching for and buying shopping list products," "perceived ease of using the store," "perceived entertainment during shopping activity" and "time spent for shopping." However, it was found that the layout does not significantly affect "promotion effectiveness" and "impulse purchases." Based on the research findings, the "freegrid" layout (i.e., a new layout type) was introduced as an emerging layout for Internet retailing. The suggested layout contributes toward the Internet retailing theory development, as well as toward the provision of direct managerial implications. Finally, the present research provides several future research directions dealing with the virtual store atmosphere effects on consumer buying behaviour

Motives of Customer Loyalty in Supermarket Patronage in Sri Lanka

The supermarket concept has led to a renewed interest among shoppers in the contemporary retailing context. The study was conducted to understand the nature of supermarket patronage in the Sri Lankan context and evaluate the motives behind the choice of supermarket patronage and how those motives impact on customer loyalty. The study is quantitative in nature and the conclusive research design was adopted.  Customer survey was conducted to collect data from customers who reside in two major provinces of Western and Southern in Sri Lanka. Data were collected in two stages from two different samples to identify the motives of supermarket patronage and validate the results. The descriptive results provide valuable insight towards the different preferences of male versus female shoppers in supermarket patronage. An exploratory factor analysis was employed for the purpose of identifying key motives of supermarket patronage by shoppers. The results produced three major dimensions which were labelled as ‘product motive’, ‘services motive’ and ‘atmospheric motive’. The structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the impact of motives on customer loyalty. The results are decisive which indicate that all three motives have significant impact on loyalty where the atmospheric motive has the highest impact on loyalty compared to product and services motives.  Key words  Customer Loyalty, Shopping Motives, Supermarket Patronage Cite this paper: A.C. Karunaratna, (2021). Motives of Customer Loyalty in Supermarket Patronage in Sri Lanka, Vidyodaya Journal of Management, 7(1), 133-162

New Concepts for Efficient Consumer Response in Retail Influenced by Emerging Technologies and Innovations

The retail industry is continuously confronted with new challenges and experiences a transformation from a supplier’s market to a buyer's market. It is, thus, essential for the retail industry to consequently focus on, anticipate and fulfil consumer’s demands. Technologies and innovative business solutions can help to support to establish a required customer experience and, thereby, gain a competitive advantage. A multitude of new services and products, channels as well as players can already be identified which drive the transformation. Therefore, retailers need to understand current trends and technologies and identify as well as implement relevant solutions for their transformation since otherwise, new players will dominate the market. Hence, this dissertation aims to review and analyse new technologies which are coupled with innovative business activities in order to provide customer-centric retailing. For this purpose, this dissertation consists of five articles and derives four major contributions which introduce different approaches to establishing consumer satisfaction. Firstly, a core technology for retail is artificial intelligence (AI) which can be meaningful applied along the entire value chain and improve retailers’ positions. Two focus areas have been identified in this context which are (i) the optimisation of the entire retail value chain with the help of AI with the aim to derive transparency and (ii) the improvement of consumer satisfaction and relationship. Secondly, focussing on the consumer-retailer relationship in the digital era, a concept with a data architecture is proposed based on a real use case. The outcome was that a specific customer orientation based on data can increase the brand value and sales volume. Thirdly, the work presents that new shopping concepts, named unmanned store concepts, gain continuous growth. Unmanned store concepts employ a variety of new technologies, are characterised by attributes of speed, ease, as well as comfort, and are deemed to be the new ideal of the expectations of modern buyers. Two different directions have been deeper analysed: (i) walk-in stores and (ii) automated vending machines. The critical success factors for the usage of unmanned store solutions are distance as well as high consumer affinity for innovations. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has a huge impact on retail, a continuous innovation capability still needs to be established. Finally, this work introduces a tool for systematic innovation management considering the current circumstances. Taken as a whole, this dissertation with its five articles deals with significant research questions which have not been approached so far. Thereby, the literature is extended by the introduction of novel insights and the provision of a deeper understanding of how retailers can transform their business into a more consumer-oriented way

Standardisation in international retailing: transferring store brand image

There is common theme within the literature that a store represents the tangible and intangible values of the company's commercial and retail organisational philosophy. Given this, it could be considered as a brand, with all the associated competitive advantages that correspond to this entity. Operationally, a store's brand competitiveness can be viewed from the image it transmits and the impact it has in the minds of consumers. However, as markets and consumer tastes vary between countries, there have been calls for further inquiry into how the domestic store brand image, with its inherited competitive advantage, can be transferred abroad. A means for achieving this is via a standardised transfer strategy. In the international marketing literature, standardisation is referred to as the identical offering of the entire marketing mix in several different countries. Likewise, within the context of retail intenationalisation, standardisation is defined as the faithful replication of a successful domestic store concept abroad. Despite all the citations found within the wider literature on international retailing the notion of standardisation lacks of clear definition when concern upon the transfer of store brand image. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to provide an insight into the debate of store brand image standardisation in international retailing. From the limitations identified in the existing literature, a new research framework is proposed for examining store brand image standardisation. The framework includes the conventional 'Store Image per se' comparative process, where examination is undertaken from a store image attribute perspective between markets. In addition, two new elements are introduced. First, the comparative process of 'Relative Marketplace', where a comparison of the domestic and foreign store image is conducted within their relative markets. Second, the 'Store Image Dimension perspective', where the two comparative processes, 'Store Image per se' and 'Relative Marketplace', are examined after the store image attributes have been aggregated into broader dimensions. This proposed framework was employed to examine the store image transferability of the Spanish limited line food discounter DIA. Through a pluralist methodological approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods, a shopper survey was conducted in Spain (the home market) and Greece (a host market) to measure the company's store brand image between and within its marketplaces. From the juxtaposition of the three components of the proposed framework, the results indicate that store brand image standardisation should be examined from an 'Absolute,' and 'Relative' standpoint. Moreover, depending on the standpoint undertaken to examine the transfer of the store brand image, standardisation can be conceptualised in three ways. 'Absolute Standardisation': A standard to be applied by faithfully replicating the store's domestic image into a host market; 'Core Standardisation': A standard to be secured by faithfully replicating the store's domestic unique selling proposition, that satisfies the needs of global markets while maintaining intact the company's entire concept; and 'Relative Standardisation': A standard to be achieved by faithfully replicating the store's domestic positioning into the host market. It is argued that these three aspects of store brand image standardisation should not be viewed as distinctive concepts, but rather as a transitional process of two ends of the same continuum

Buying Better For Your Money: The Smart Buyer’s Decalogue

There are lot of papers offering information on products and services. Some of them are potentially useful to consumers, while others remain simple and incomplete pamphlets without insight or significant research information. In their majority, these papers only analyze the consumers (in) satisfaction degree. This paper shows what to look for in comparing values of many basic frequently bought items and suggest potential good advices for valuable buys. This is more a philosophical attempt than an unreleased approach to determine what sources offering values can be used as basic personal comparisons issued on a large selectivity and low expenses. Smart shopping is a new concept that we are proposing to be studied. In our persepctive its field is greater than the simple purchase to cover a certain need that can open new areas of research, complex, n –dimensioanllz dynamic, ready to fit the new perception to see the consumer as an important busienss partner. The success in shopping is attainted when both consumer and sellers get fulfilled under a valuable partnership. With plenty of money, most could satisfy hidden and hollow hungers. But wise shopping isn’t only about money. Beyond the today shopping conditions buffing quite well, there are still people that get confusion and expenses. As such thing doesn’t make money to buy more, everything should be about buying wisely. Emotionally connected to increase personal satisfaction this can also make the shopping a sound activity. If consumers have learned their expenses lesson, this is the right time to learn something new, that shopping must be a pleasant activity in saving money, time and feelings, for both individual and society benefit.customer rights, rational purchases, smart shopping, partnership value

The acquisition of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. by Kroger Co.

This dissertation aims to explore the eventual acquisition of Sprouts Farmers Market by Kroger Co. The food and grocery retail sector is under a profound and disruptive transformation process. The entrance of international hard discounters and behemoth online retailers, the consumer’s less propensity to cook and convenience-driven preferences, and the usage of data-intensive technologies shook the industry’s future prospects. Brick-and-mortar retailers, with their profit margins crushed and stagnant growth possibilities, crave for new sources of income. As a result, M&A activity emerges as a reliable option, with Sprouts on the frontline as the optimal target. Kroger and Sprouts’ intrinsic value equals 35,459 and 3,484 million USD, respectively. The transaction will be based on a friendly, all-cash approach, with a 30% premium over Sprouts’ share price on July 15. The deal will be financed using Kroger’s cash reserves, proceeds from the sale of assets and through the issuance of debt. It is expected that the acquisition would yield 1,141 million USD in synergy value, where 420 million USD would be captured by Kroger’s shareholders.Esta dissertação tem como objectivo explorar uma eventual aquisição da Sprouts Farmers Market Inc por parte da Kroger Co. O sector do retalho alimentar encontra-se num processo de enorme transformação. A entrada de novos competidores, utilização de novas tecnologias e a alteração dos hábitos dos consumidores criaram incerteza quando ao futuro dos retalhistas tradicionais. Para se manterem competitivas, estas empresas necessitam de reinventar o seu modelo de negócio e de procurar novas fontes de receita. Deste modo, M&A apresenta-se como uma importante opção, sendo a Sprouts, especialista no lucrativo retalho de produtos biológicos, o alvo de aquisição óptimo. O valor intrínseco da Kroger Co. é de 35,459 milhões de dólares e o da Sprous Farmers Market é de 3,484 milhões de dólares. A transacção basear-se-a numa aproximação amigável, com um prémio pecuniário de 30% face ao preço por acção da Sprouts a 15 de Julho, financiada utilizando uma combinação de capitais próprios, dívida e mais-valias resultantes da recente venda de activos. Espera-se que esta transacção gere sinergias no valor de 1,141 milhões de dólares, 420 milhões de dólares referentes aos accionistas da Kroger

A structural equation model of the determinants of repeat purchase behaviour of online grocery shoppers in the UK

PhD ThesisThe thesis aims at developing a structural equation model of the determinants of repeat online grocery shopping behaviour. In particular, it examines online grocery shopping behaviour, sample and characteristics of shoppers, identifies key constructs that are the determinants of online grocery repurchase behaviour, and formulates a structural equation model in terms of the key determinants. Previous key literatures related to online grocery shopping are first reviewed and a conceptual framework comprising the various hypotheses is proposed, and then empirically examined. Quantitative research method based on an online survey is employed and a total of 333 respondents form the sample for this research. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to assess the fit of the measurement model and to refine the constructs. Structural model is also employed to investigate any causal relationships among the constructs based on the proposed model and the hypotheses paths. With respect to the results of demographic profiles, online grocery shoppers are identified as women, age group of 18-34 years old, full-time workers, having a moderate income and higher educational level, and living with another adult without children. In addition, the results indicate that six constructs, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, shopping enjoyment in a store, social influence, post-purchase attributive satisfaction and attitudes towards online grocery shopping, are involved in the consumer’s repeat online grocery shopping behaviour. Moreover, the proposed theoretical framework has all consistent and valid scales for each of the constructs, and the measurement model for each construct shows good measures of fit explaining data reasonably well. Associated with the structural model, it is found that the construct of post-purchase attributive satisfaction has the strongest direct effect on consumers’ attitudes towards online grocery shopping, and the strongest both direct and indirect effects on consumers’ repeat online grocery purchasing intentions. Indirect route is developed through consumer’s attitude although this route is much weaker than that from direct relationship.Newcastle University International Postgraduate Scholarship