Channel switching behavior during the modernization of grocery retailing in Turkey

(a) Purpose: Considering the increasing competition and channel diversity due to retail modernization we aim to study the channel switching behavior progress in a long horizon and the customer-related factors as influencers of channel switching. (b) Design/Methodology/Approach: Major channel switching behaviors of households are analyzed during six years, using household panel data covering grocery purchases from supermarket, local market and traditional channels in Turkey. Household demographics and behavioral variables are induced from dataset and Logistic regression model is employed to measure the effects of customer-related variables on the probability of channel switching. (c) Findings: Traditional channel still keeps the highest loyal customer base in Turkey. Loyalty to both traditional channel and supermarkets decreases, while to local markets increases by time. Households loyal to traditional channel transfer either a small amount of their purchases to modern channels or make modern channels their major channel occasionally. In any case, there is a transition period experienced in Turkish grocery retail market. A multi-channel usage behavior or higher adoption to modern channel might me the result of this transition. (d) Research Limitations/Implications: Channel level analysis limits to define channel-related variables, such as price, place, product-variety specific to each channel format. Excluding these variables might explain partially the low explanatory power of the model. (e) Practical Implications: Analyzing channel-switching behavior, its progression and explaining determinants is important for retailers and producers in predicting the future of market structure, modern retail customer base and in designing the growth strategies. The variables influencing channel switching help to explain some barriers of modern retail development

Retail positioning through customer satisfaction: an alternative explanation to the resource-based view

Through exploring factors influencing effective retail positioning strategies in an emerging market environment, this paper challenges the role of isolation mechanism and heterogeneous idiosyncrasy argued by the resource-based view theory. By drawing on a sample of 11,577 customers from hypermarkets, electronic appliance specialty stores and department stores in major Chinese cities, we set up ten hypotheses and confirm a nine-item model for customeroriented retail positioning (perceived price, store image, product, shopping environment, customer service, payment process, after-sales service, store policies, and shopping convenience). Our results show that different retail formats achieve success through the implementation of similar positioning strategies, in which case, it is not heterogeneity but homogeneity that contributes to retailers' success greatly at the development stage of retail expansion. Our results challenge previously proved effectiveness of inimitability to success by the resource-based view, and support homogenous idiosyncrasy of retailers in the implementation of customer-oriented positioning strategies in an emerging market

EVOLVING RESEARCH ON PRICE COMPETITION IN THE GROCERY RETAILING INDUSTRY: AN APPRAISAL

With the end of the Supermarket Revolution in the 1970s, new forms of horizontal, vertical, and geographic competition have appeared to challenge the supremacy of the supermarket format. New retail formats like warehouse stores, supercenters, and fast-food outlets appear to affect local retail supermarket prices. Slotting allowances, coupons, and electronic data gathering have intensified retailer-manufacturing rivalry. Foreign direct investment offers the promise of new European-style management styles in U.S. grocery retailing.Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis,

Fast Moving Consumer Goods: Competitive Conditions and Policies

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) constitute a large part of consumers' budget in all countries. The retail sector for FMCGs in Turkey is in the process of a drastic transformation. New, "modern" retail formats, like chain stores and hyper/supermarkets, have rapidly diffused in almost all major urban areas, and increased their market share at the expense of traditional formats (grocery shops, green groceries, etc.) in the last couple of decades. This rapid transformation has raised concerns about competitive conditions in the sector. This study is aimed at to shed light on competitive conditions prevailing in the FMCGs retail trade sector in Turkey. We analyze how the structure of the market is being transformed in recent years by new retail formats. The study is focused on the analysis of competitive dynamics (inter-firm rivalry, pricing and non-price policies, barriers to entry, regulatory conditions, etc.) within the sector, and draws lessons for competition policy.FMCG, competition policy, Turkey

Store Choice in the Emerging Indian Apparel Retail Market: an Empirical Analysis

Store Choice has been a subject of frequent research in the developed retail markets of the west. However, the retail sector in India has been largely fragmented and unorganized. However, the retail scenario in India is changing at a very brisk pace. Many international retailers entering India and many Indian retailers in the organized segment are coming up with stores all across the country, but a majority of these stores have merely transplanted western formats onto the Indian retail scene without actually evaluating the salience of various store attributes from the customer perspective. In light of this the purpose of this paper is to study the store choice criteria in the context of apparel retailing in India. Drawing from major global and Indian studies conducted in the past, this research has identified two dimensions, which in different combinations could create sustainable store choice and hence, store loyalty. These two dimensions are termed “loyalty drivers†and experience enhancersâ€.Consumer Behaviour

Sports Retailinf in India: Opportunities, Constraints and Way Forward

Sports retail is a small but fast growing segment of modern retail in India. Recently, thecountry has been hosting many international sports and this has given a boost to thissector. Many foreign and domestic corporate retailers have entered sports retail. Sportsgoods manufacturing is a focus area in the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-2014) and thegovernment is taking a fresh look at the current foreign direct investment policy inretail.In the above context, this paper provides an overview of the sports retail sector in India.Specifically, it presents the different retail formats, consumer profile, retailers’ supplychain and sourcing. It also examines the retail and sports policies and their implicationsfor this segment of retail, analyses the barriers faced by this sector and suggests policyreforms.The study found that the policy of allowing 51 per cent FDI in the single-brand formathas not benefited this sector. The FDI ban on multi-brand retail is not an entry barriersince foreign retailers can establish their presence in India through other routes. Thestudy found that since this is a niche segment of retail, FDI would not have an adverseimpact on traditional retailers. It concludes that government should allow 51 per centFDI in multi-brand sports retail. This will increase sourcing from India, lead todiffusion of technology, proliferation of brands, investment in sports and sportspromotion, among others.Retail, Sports, Government Policy, Trade, Consumer Survey

Liquid retail:cultural perspectives on marketplace transformation

Inspired by Bauman’s notion of ‘liquidity’, we problematize the socio-cultural dynamics taking place in contemporary retail. The notion of liquid retail enables reserachers to untangle marketplace transformation and to highlight developments centred around markets and market actors that jointly transform each other. This introduction underlines, as a point of departure, recent developments in retailing that have been marked by the corrosion of fixity and boundaries. We provide a short synopsis of marketplace transformation and liquid retail, from a socio-cultural perspective, and summarize the papers included in this special issue

Store Format Choice in an Evolving Market . A TPB Approach

<div align=justify>The store choice has been studied extensively in the literature, but store format choice has had limited research attention. The store choice modeling has been primarily done in the random utility theory framework, which however is a neo-economics based view of choice decision that ignores the psychological and behavioral aspects of this planned behavior. The store format choice for bulk grocery purchase despite being a rational context has not been conceptualized in the most accepted construct in attitude behavior, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Attitude-behavior linkage has been studied extensively in literature but there is still no consensus on the components of attitude, their interrelationship and resultant impact on conation. The Theory of Reasoned Action has evolved over time to incorporate perceived behavioral control and past behavior to improve its explanatory capacity as TPB; however, it has maintained its unidimensionalist approach and has not tested affect and cognition independently for its impact on behavior. It may therefore be relevant to explore the possibility of testing the proposed Converging framework of Affect and Cognition and comment on the relationship of the structural components of attitude and its impact on format choice. The impact of past behavior on future behavior in Theory of Planned Behavior has been ambiguous while there has not been much emphasis on the quality of past experience. The current research takes up the past experience quality and tests it in the attitude behavior relationship as an antecedent of actual behavior. This paper conceptualizes the store format choice behavior in the Theory of Planned Behavior framework by exploring the strength of attitude-behavior relationship mediated through behavioral intention and its impact on format choice as also the independent role of affect and cognition on the format choice.</div>