Retail Experience Research Articles

Entropy assessment of supply chain disruption

PurposeManufacturing organizations and networks are heavily dependent on the flow of information within and across organization boundaries. A disruption in information flow might interrupt the operations of the organization and make management even more difficult. The purpose of this paper is to incorporate information theory approach to investigate the perturbation introduced into a manufacturing organization as a result of disruption in the flow of critical information needed in manufacturing operations.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes the use of entropy theory to assess the level of risk introduced by different sources of perturbation into the material flow stream and the use of discrete event simulation to investigate the impact of the resulting disruption on collaborating members.FindingsThe result of the analysis carried out on the effect of system failure on supply chain performance revealed that the retailer experiences the most uncertainty in the supply chain while the holding cost constitutes the most unpredictable cost measure when a system failure breach occurs. For the manufacturer and wholesaler, the holding cost is responsible for most of the uncertainty in predicting the impact of the threat on inventory management cost, while the backlog cost holds the highest complexity level for the retailer.Practical implicationsOnce this methodology is well developed for use in industrial networks, it can serve as a risk assessment, risk monitoring and risk prediction tool. The paper also calls for a proactive approach to disruption risk management.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a novel approach to assess the impact of information disruption, using entropy theory coupled with simulation methodology.

Waiting for service at the checkout

PurposeIn retail settings, customer satisfaction is generally associated with a global evaluation of the store, i.e. the store image. Waiting for service is not part of the store image dimensions, but it does play an increasingly important role in the retail experience where waits are often inevitable. The present study seeeks to investigate how waiting for service at the checkout counter influences overall satisfaction, along with the store image.Design/methodology/approachThe study combines services marketing and waiting literature. Data were collected in various supermarkets in The Netherlands. A partial least squares regression technique is used to analyze the data.FindingsThe paper demonstrates an important and complementary role of the behavioural construct “negative response to the wait” in explaining overall customer satisfaction in a retail environment. The effect of customers' negative emotional response to the wait on satisfaction is partially mediated by store image, and explained variance in the dependent variable increases by 24 percent when the effect of the wait at the checkout is included.Research limitations/implicationsMeasuring customer satisfaction without taking into account the effects of various waits during the retail experience will produce incomplete results.Practical implicationsMoreover, a range of controllable factors influences the customer's wait. Intelligently managing these factors can mitigate negative effects on customer satisfaction, or even increase the overall evaluation of the service. Specific recommendations for service managers and a research agenda are provided.Originality/valueThe study combines service marketing and waiting literature to address the issue of waiting in line and tests the theory with real‐world data from a field study.

Sensing Design and Workmanship: The Haptic Skills of Shoppers in Eighteenth-Century London

This article explores how eighteenth-century shoppers understood the material world around them. It argues that retail experiences exposed shoppers to different objects, which subsequently shaped their understanding of this world. This article builds on recent research that highlights the importance of shop environments and browsing in consumer choice. More particularly, it differentiates itself by examining the practice of handling goods in shops and arguing that sensory interaction with multiple goods was one of the key means by which shoppers comprehended concepts of design and workmanship. In doing so, it affirms the importance of sensory research to design history. The article focuses on consumer purchases of ceramic objects and examines a variety of sources to demonstrate the role of haptic skills in this act. It shows how different literary sources described browsing for goods in gendered and satirical terms and then contrasts these readings against visual evidence to illustrate how handling goods was also represented as a positive act. It reads browsing as a valued practice requiring competence, patience and haptic skills. Through an examination of diary sources, letters and objects this article asks what information shoppers gained from touching various objects. It concludes by demonstrating how repetitive handling in search of quality meant that shoppers acquired their own conception of what constituted workmanship and design.

Mythic Agency and Retail Conquest

This paper expands agency theory by identifying mythic agency as a lens through which retailers can view spectacular events during which consumers act heroically to achieve an important consumption goal. Partaking in a stressful and challenging retail experience invokes the stages of a quest, through which successful consumers emerge transformed and where they challenge, at least in part, the culturally prescribed role of bride. Retailers who create events that evoke and support consumers’ heroic actions can develop powerful, meaningful, and enduring relationships with their customers.

Leeds Shopping Week: a case study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between Leeds Shopping Week and city centre regeneration. It looks at the way in which shoppers and retailers interact with other stakeholders to deliver innovative place marketing by offering a richer more engaging retail experience.Design/methodology/approachThe regional economic development context provides the background against which this case study rests. It draws on shoppers' experiences and puts forward a number of recommendations for future years.FindingsLeeds Shopping Week is a marketing communication tool that can be used to enrich shoppers' experiences and drive forward economic regeneration. It enriches the retail experience, adds a sense of occasion to civic life and acts as an economic stimulant to the local economy.Originality/valueThis paper discusses issues of theoretical and applied policy relevance that can inform and develop retail, city and economic development knowledge and practice.

Guest editors' introduction: Pervasive Retail

The retail experience is undergoing significant changes due to a confluence of pervasive computing technologies, such as affordable smartphones with a plethora of retail applications, social media, sensing and analytics, and wireless technologies. This issue contains three articles that examine some of the opportunities and challenges in the pervasive retail space.

Music and consumption experience: a review

PurposeThe purpose of this review is to examine the influence of music on consumption experience and explore the relationships between musical variables and consumer responses in the context of retailing.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the review of studies conducted over last 30 years, empirical and conceptual, dealing with a large number of music‐related variables and their impact on various dimensions of consumption experience.FindingsThe studies report that music influences consumption experience at cognitive, emotional, and behavioural levels, specifically with regard to attitudes and perceptions, time and money spend, and moods and feelings, in retail experience. The influence of music is moderated by customer and store profiles, purchase timings, and other ambience factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides important insights into critical issues related to influence of music, for future research.Practical implicationsThe research brings out important issues for designing musical environment in the retail stores to influence shopping experience and consumer responses.Originality/valueBased on a critical review of important studies, the present paper proposes a framework to understand the effect of music on consumption experience in retail stores.

Companion Shoppers and the Consumer Shopping Experience

Many of the social and recreational aspects of retailing have been studied; however, an understudied area of retailing related to this is the role played by shopping companions who accompany shoppers in the retail environment. This qualitative study investigates the roles assumed by companion shoppers. It was found that companion shoppers act on behalf of both retail customers and the retail firm. The companion performs many duties traditionally performed by the retail salesperson, thus enhancing the customer's retail experience. It is recommended that retail managers incorporate strategies that build relationships with companion shoppers in order to positively affect customer satisfaction. These strategies should include companion promotional programs such as those that encourage customers to bring a friend to stimulate both powerful word-of-mouth endorsements for the retailer as well as expansion of the retailer's customer base.

Evaluating tourist satisfaction with the retail experience in a typical tourist shopping village

The study presented in this paper explores the phenomenon of Tourist Shopping Villages (TSVs) and the dimensions that contribute to satisfying visitor experiences. TSVs are defined as small towns and villages that base their tourist appeal on retailing, often in a pleasant setting marked by historical or natural amenities. A conceptual framework was developed in an attempt to explain and understand visitor satisfaction with the tourist shopping village experience. The results indicate the village performance on providing a unique local experience, value for money and regionally distinctive products, and opportunities for entertainment and bargain hunting were the key variables which most strongly predicted whether respondents were very satisfied or not. Surprisingly, the level of enthusiasm for leisure shopping did not have a strong influence on the visitor experience or satisfaction. Tourist shopping villages provide a unique setting in which recreational or leisure shopping occurs and are under-researched, particularly from the perspective of the visitor experience.

Shaping Customer Satisfaction through Self-Awareness Cues

Six studies show that subtle contextual cues that increase customers’ self-awareness can be used to influence their satisfaction with service providers (while holding the objective service delivery constant). Self-awareness cues tend to increase customers’ satisfaction when the outcome of a service interaction is unfavorable, but they tend to decrease customers’ satisfaction when the outcome of the interaction is favorable. This is because higher self-awareness increases customers’ tendency to attribute outcomes to themselves rather than to the provider. Self-awareness can even influence satisfaction with service interactions that occurred far in the past. The authors demonstrate these effects across a variety of lab and field settings with different simulated retail experiences and with different real-life service interactions, including college courses, meals taken at a university cafeteria, and items purchased at an actual clothing store. The results further show that attempts to shape customers’ satisfaction by means of self-awareness are more likely to be effective when there is substantial customer responsibility for the outcome; when customers’ responsibility is limited, such attempts may backfire.

The prevention of shoplifting in eighteenth‐century London

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore eighteenth‐century London retailers' attitudes to shoplifting and their strategies for countering customer theft.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on an examination of contemporary documentary evidence, in particular a quantitative and qualitative analysis of shopkeeper practice drawn from trial transcripts of shoplifting prosecutions at London's highest criminal court, the Old Bailey.FindingsThe paper reveals that shopkeepers predominantly invested in preventative measures to control customer theft, rather than relying on prosecution. It demonstrates that improved shop fittings and new marketing methods served to reinforce the effectiveness of this strategy. The techniques that retailers employed are shown to directly reflect the nature and location of the risks they experienced, even to the extent of being a contributory factor in the withdrawal of women from the retail sector during this period.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to a sample of London trials and the experiences of retailers who prosecuted.Originality/valueThis is the first study of shoplifting prevention in this period. It analyses retailer practice and illustrates how this interacted with their perception of the prevalence of criminality, demonstrating that their approach to stock protection anticipated that of modern retailers. It complements existing scholarship on eighteenth‐century retailing and marketing.

Creating the futuristic retail experience through experiential marketing: Is it possible? An exploratory study

is presently working as Director in SIESCOMS. He has published more than 150 research papers and authored fi ve text books in the area of marketing. ABSTRACT The rapid pace of globalisation, increased competition and excessive brand clutter are changing the market landscape in retail and posing new challenges for marketers and customers alike. Coupled with economic slowdown, environmental crises and more discerning consumers, marketers are employing innovative strategies to address the changing consumer profi les. Marketers are building brands based on inputs, and aim to create experiences that shall be cherished forever. In today ' s global marketplace, it is all about feel, relate and act. This is driving the consumption and choice of brands. The human interface is becoming a critical component and is providing the necessary touchpoints for generating memorable experiences. This research article examines and analyses the aspects of experiential marketing, both from the marketer ' s as well as the consumer ' s point of view. This article further addresses the issue of how to create and implement experiences in retail segment, and explains a model that proposes a new way of looking at experiential marketing. Journal of Retail & Leisure Property (2010) 9, 193 - 199. doi: 10.1057/rlp.2010.12

Atmospheric cues and their effect on the hedonic retail experience

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the role of atmospherics in the creation of an hedonic retail experience by comparing the perceived differences between a retail environment attempting to provide an hedonic experience and one with a more utilitarian focus.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative methodology was employed, using protocol analysis and in‐depth semi‐structured interviews that were conducted with ten participants.FindingsThe paper highlights several atmospheric cues and their influence on the hedonic retail experience. The first category of cues – attractive stimuli – were those cues that attracted attention, exciting the participant and eliciting approach behaviours. The second category – facilitating stimuli – included those cues that were necessary in order to facilitate product engagement.Originality/valueThe paper provides a broad categorisation of atmospheric cues, providing factors that shop designers can be aware of when creating a store with the hedonic experience in mind.

When non-store meets in-store: mobile communications technology, servicescapes, and the production of servicespace

This interpretative research contributes to the current literature on retailing by borrowing from an alternative conceptualisation of space, one grounded in Henri Lefebvre's spatial analysis. This new conceptualisation sheds a new light on the relative importance of both the built servicescape (e.g., the physical settings of a shopping mall) and mobile communications technology (e.g., cell phones) in the shaping of an individual's overall retail experience. An exploratory fieldwork reveals that shoppers leverage their mobile device to produce a customised lived space, within wich the servicescape is only one dimension of a multidimensional servicespace. Consequences for the role of the servicescape as a site of social centrality are discussed. This study also introduces the Day-In-A-Life (DIAL) protocol, a qualitative methodology adapted to the exploration of contemporary marketplaces, i.e., marketplaces where the online and the offline (i.e. brick-and-mortar) experiences are increasingly interweaved.

Retail experience stores: experiencing the brand at first hand

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence and development of experience stores and to consider their potential role in fostering consumer brand relationships and their impact on the retail landscape.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins by outlining the characteristics of experience stores before moving on to discuss the ways in which a number of electronics and mobile phone retailers have developed experience store formats.FindingsWhile recognizing that experience stores are a small but potentially significant addition to the retail marketplace, the paper discusses four principal issues. The need for continuing innovation to maintain competitive advantage; the changing relationship between manufacturer and retailer brands; the challenges involved in maintaining consistency in the brand experience; and the possible extension of the concept of experience stores to other sectors of the retail marketplace.Originality/valueThe paper provides an accessible review of the emergence of experience stores and their role in developing relationships between brands and consumers and as such it will be of interest to academics and students who are interested in retailing and in brands.

The Effect of Collectivism on the Importance of Relationship Quality and Service Quality for Behavioral Intentions: A Cross-National and Cross-Contextual Analysis

The authors explore when and how collectivism influences the importance of service quality and relationship quality for behavioral intentions. Using goal and action identification theories, they argue that collectivist tendencies become salient depending on a buyer's particular goal in a given service context and that when collectivist characteristics are salient, they can influence the importance of service or relationship quality. In the first study, the authors demonstrate the moderation effect of collectivism in a high-social-interaction context, in which they argue that collectivist tendencies are salient, using data collected in countries characterized as high and low in collectivism, and find that collectivism increases the importance of relationship and service quality (contrary to the hypothesized negative effect) for behavioral intentions. In the second study, the authors find that collectivism does not moderate the aforementioned relationships in contexts in which social interaction is expected to be low. The cross-national and cross-contextual findings provide multinational retailers guidance in designing the customer retail experience on the basis of the collectivist tendencies of consumers in various markets.

Motivators and decisional influencers of online shopping

Online shopping is an innovative option of distribution available in the hands of marketers. It is innovative and creative because marketers can experiment with it in form, content, visibility and availability. In India online shopping is considered as a relevant alternative channel for retailing and it is now an important part of the retail experience. This research study is an empirical study to find out the motivators and decisional influencers of online shopping. The sample has been selected from the youth population as this group of people actually use internet to buy online. The study highlights that reliability, accessibility and convenience are the major motivator factors which motivate the Indian consumer to buy online. Similarly, reluctance and preference are the two decisional factors which influence the decision of the consumer to buy online or offline. It is recommended that marketers must give a thought to these factors when they design their online strategy.

Diminishing varieties of active and creative retail experience: The end of the music shop?

In qualitatively defining the spatial attractions of music shops for a group of highly involved and long-term consumers, the elaborated consumption event implies a socially and culturally relevant creative retail process. This takes the form of an immersive interpretation and investigation of aspects of music store space design and merchandise relevant to the exploration and construction of meaningful, personal mythologies in a self-developmental, transactional event whilst being out ‘in-the-world’. Supporting this event were deep levels of product involvement, with inter- and intra-personal communication in a supporting space relating to a set of community values, particularly encoded in 12” vinyl artefacts.

Horse Trading in the Age of Cars: Men in the Marketplace. By Steven M. Gelber. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. xiv, 224 pp. $50.00, ISBN 978-0-8018-8997-4.)

In Horse Trading in the Age of Cars, Steven M. Gelber examines why Americans buy cars by haggling over trade-ins, prices, and features. The puzzle for Gelber is why that practice continues despite “the express desire of both the public and the industry to have automotive retailing conform to general retail standards” (p. 3), by which he means fixed, advertised prices. He believes these prices are democratic because the same price applies to all consumers. Gelber argues that car buying is the continuation of the gendered practices of horse trading, which have persisted because both horses and cars express the “cultural constructed meaning of manhood” (p. 174). Horse trading was an elaborate male contest of outwitting one's opponent with deception and lies. Carried over into car buying, it created a retail experience that excluded American women “for whom aggressive bargaining had become an alien process” (p. 163). Gelber defines bargaining as an anachronism, asserting that that “by 1900 the retail system used by department stores had become the rule for the sale of all consumer products except cars” (p. 34). It is inaccurate, however, to conflate the practices of urban department stores with the entire retail system. He also assumes that horses and cars were interchangeable products because both were personal transportation, a conventional belief but inaccurate in terms of technological change. The transition from horses to cars was more complicated and lengthy. Contrary to Gelber's assertion, the majority of people who worked in horse-related occupations did not move into car-related occupations.

Reinventing the branch: An empirical assessment of banking strategies to environmental differentiation

The present study investigates the effects of two atmospheric differentiation strategies currently used by banks: co-locating with a hedonic business vs. refurbishing through an upscale environment. We assessed the potential moderating effects of congruency between the retail environment and the type of services. Using a Structural Equation Model based on 300 bank visit intercepts, we found significant differences between modern branch concepts and the traditional one in their influence on customers’ retail experience. More specifically, the type of atmospheric strategy moderates the relationship between retail environment and customers’ affect and the relationship between affect and approach behavior. Also, the mediating role of the employees and financial services evaluation varies depending on the branch environment. We conclude that a modern, mildly arousing and pleasure-oriented retail environment is the most suited at maximizing customers approach behavior. Adverse effects from a highly-arousing environment are discussed in the light of the financial services context. Theoretical and managerial implications along with avenues for future research are proposed.