Abstract
This paper presents the results of survey research conducted in 1994 and 1995 on consumer perceptions of different retail formats in Albania. As a developing country where consumers and retailers are learning to adjust to a new market system, Albania presents a unique context for this type of study. We measured consumer perceptions of merchandising and customer service attributes and overall satisfaction for private stores with a permanent location, kiosks, and open market vendors. Contrary to other studies of informal retailers, our results show that open market vendors and, to a lesser extent, kiosks provide consumers with less overall satisfaction as compared to the permanent, private stores. Since these markets are segmented to a certain extent by product type, consumers shopped across all markets. Over time, consumers are becoming more confident of their decision skills, product quality has become more important, and permanent private stores were perceived as improving in merchandising and service. However, shopping frequency in the open market increased due to the economic situation. Implications for both Albanian entrepreneurs and potential foreign investors are discussed.
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