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;

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;

Towards understanding consumer response to stock-outs

Manufacturers as well as retailers can suffer important losses as a result of stock-outs. The magnitude of these losses depends art specific consumer reactions, which have been found to vary with product, consumer, and situation factors. This paper presents a conceptual frame work that integrates the major determinants of consumer reactions to stock-outs. The theoretical relationships provide explanations for the marked differences in stock-out effects observed in previous studies. Moreover, the framework can be empirically implemented, allowing retailers and manufacturers to determine how much each factor contributes to stock-out losses. We collect survey data to provide evidence on the relevance of the framework and the direction and importance of the effect of different consumer behaviors.status: publishe