Adoption of Digital Payments by Small Retail Stores

Entry of large supermarkets and online retailers, and widespread adoption of digital technologies are threatening the business models of small retail convenient stores in India. Using a qualitative methodology and the Technology-Organization-Environment framework, this study, investigated the challenges faced by these small retail stores in the context of a deliberate governmental push towards digital payments and increasing competition from large supermarkets and online retailers. Perceived loss of control, costs of technologies, customers\u27 low socio-economic background, suppliers influence, tax and security implications and bureaucracy and lack of trust on the regulatory and external environment are the challenges identified in the study. In addition, poor physical and digital infrastructure, inadequate access to and poor reliability of digital technologies, and the costs are constraining the adoption of digital technologie

Two substitutable perishable product disaster inventory systems

A disaster inventory system is considered in which two substitutable items are stored for disaster management. In the event of disaster management, a particular product may become stock-out and the situation warrants that a demand for the particular product during its stock-out period may be substituted with another available similar product in the inventory. From the utility point of view, continuous review inventory models are quite appro-priate in disaster inventory management. In this paper, a continuous review two substitutable perishable product disaster inventory model is proposed and analyzed. Since the inventory is maintained for disaster management, an adjustable joint reordering policy for replenishment is adopted. There is no lead time and the replenishment is instantaneous. For this model, some measures of system performance are obtained. The stationary behavior of the model is also considered. Numerical examples are also provided to illustrate the results obtained.http://link.springer.com/journal/10479hb2016Industrial and Systems Engineerin

An application of the extended technology acceptance model in understanding technology-enabled financial service adoption in South Africa

The last 10 years have seen a significant increase in the provision of consumer services through technology. Computers, mobile phones, the Internet and self-service kiosks are examples of technology platforms that have enabled services to be offered to consumers in new ways. In South Africa, technology-enabled financial services have the potential to expand financial inclusion, especially at the bottom of the pyramid. There is a need to understand how consumers adopt technology-enabled services. Using grounded theory, an enhancement to the Technology Acceptance Model is proposed and developed to explain adoption of technologyenabled financial services. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to validate the model against data obtained from a survey. The proposed model fits the data well. Implications of the model are discussed.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdsa20hb201

An investigation into factors impacting financial exclusion at the bottom of the pyramid in South Africa

Financial exclusion has been shown to have negative socioeconomic effects on citizens, especially at the bottom of the economic pyramid. South Africa suffers from high levels of financial exclusion, disproportionately at the bottom of the pyramid. This study investigates nine factors identified from the literature as being positively associated with financial exclusion using a logistic regression model. The findings show that the most significant factors associated with being financially excluded at the bottom of the pyramid in South Africa were educational level, primary source of income, age, home language and number of dependents. The study further found that gender, relationship status and home ownership were not associated with being financially excluded. An interesting finding was that living in a rural area as opposed to an urban area was not significantly associated with being excluded. The findings and their implications for expanding financial inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid are discussedhttp://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdsa202017-08-31hb2017Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)Industrial and Systems Engineerin

Digitalization of Small Retail Stores - Challenges in Digital Payments

The traditional business model of small retail convenience stores in India is increasingly under threat due to the entry of large supermarket chains and online retailers. This study, using a qualitative methodology and the Technology-Organization-Environment framework as the theoretical basis, investigated the digitalization of small retail stores. Our study found low levels of adoption of digital technologies for managing supply-side and customer-side processes and a heavy dependence on cash and credit-based low value transactions. Inefficient processes, poor physical infrastructure, inadequate access to and poor reliability of digital technologies, and the costs are limiting the digitalization by small retail stores. Expressed ambiguity and inherent contradictions regarding the benefits of transparency, perceived sense of control, tax implications and mistrust in the external regulations in digital context denote the small retailers’ incapacity to comprehend the changes and resources required to meet the challenge