Performance Of Small Retailers Research Articles

A small independent retailer's performance: Influenced by innovative strategic decision-making skills?

The existence of small independent retailers is seriously jeopardised by severe competitive pressure, mainly caused by the sharp rise in online trading, rapidly changing consumer behaviours and the effectiveness of large commercial companies. It is claimed that small retailers should respond to this pressure by designing and implementing innovative business strategies. However, little is known about the specific entrepreneurial qualities and skills needed to design innovative business strategies to cope effectively with these challenging business environments. A structural equation methodology is used to analyse the impact of strategic decision-making skills, originating from the effectuation framework, on a small retailer's success.Three entrepreneurial qualities and skills proved to be significantly related to a small retailer's effectiveness: 1) innovative personal qualities related to creativity, 2) cognitive analytic business skills, and 3) capacities in inspirational networking. However, a specific path seems to exist. Creativity provides the input for the effective application of cognitive analytic business skills, the latter again directly positively influencing a small retailer's performance. This implies that to be effective, innovative personal qualities should be combined with cognitive business skills. Moreover, the final model revealed an indirect positive influence of inspirational networking on a small retailer's performance. Capacities in inspirational networking have a positive impact, in so far as the following two basic conditions are satisfied: 1) frequent social initiative, and 2) intellectual authenticity. Moreover, the effective application of business skills positively influences inspirational networking skills, an insight again underscoring the necessity to combine cognitive analytic skills and social networking abilities.

Impactos do relacionamento consumidor-marca no desempenho de vendedores no varejo

In competitive markets with many brand options, pursuing a differential has been a recurring task for companies today. In this sense people have become an important asset in the company and several studies focused on the relationship of consumers with brands. But few studies have investigated other types of brand relationships, such as that of the seller in this scenario, and how this relationship can impact sales performance. This research aims to understand the background of the performance of retail salespeople, this work unprecedentedly integrates the concepts of Salesperson-Brand Relationship (SBR) and Salesperson-Brand Attachment (SBA). For this, a survey was conducted with 206 vendors. This is one of the first researches that seeks to develop an integrative model of the seller-brand relationship and its consequences, the work demonstrates significant relationships between SBR and SBA, job satisfaction and sales performance. The main results indicate that the seller-brand relationship impacts the performance of small retailers, since results show that the seller's relationship with the brand plays a significant role in their performance, commitment, effort and satisfaction with work. According to the survey results, companies wanting retail sales performance should build "Brand Attachment" on their sales team to drive job satisfaction and commitment.

Supplier relationship marketing practices and small retailer performance in South Africa

The purpose of the study on which this article is based, was to interrogate the relationship marketing practices of small retailers in South Africa. The researcher also explores the impact of relat...

A research note on the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on small retailer performance: a resource-advantage perspective

Using Hunt and Morgan’s (Journal of Marketing, 59, 1–15, 1995, Journal of Marketing, 60(4), 107–114, 1996) Resource-Advantage Theory, this study examined the relationship between firm resources (e.g. financial, physical, human, organisational, informational, and relational resources) and levels of performance in small, independent retailers; and whether performance was moderated by retailers’ perception of the level of environmental hostility, as well as by their entrepreneurial orientation. Surveys were mailed to small, independent retailers throughout Tasmania, Australia. It was expected that retailers’ use of resources would predict performance. Expectations were partially supported; responses (N = 384) showed that the resources related to performance were access to financial capital, and human and organisational resources. Environmental hostility and entrepreneurial orientation did not moderate this relationship. However, the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on performance was moderated by environmental hostility.

Small-independent retailers vs. organized retailers: An empirical study in Indonesian economics of service industries

This paper explores the influence of strategic planning and functional-business strategy in helping small-independent retailers/traditional retailers to survive amidst the competition with organized retailers. Based on cross-sectional survey research, this study illustrates the influence of strategic planning and functional-business strategy to retailer–supplier relationship, consumer loyalty program, and retailer performance. In order to clarify the relationships among these constructs, a structural equation model (SEM) is employed to examine the model fit and the five hypotheses. The results show that strategic planning is critical for small independent retailers due to its influence on the retailer–supplier relationship and consumer loyalty program. Besides, consumer loyalty program is also influenced by functional-business strategy. The retailer–supplier relationship and consumer loyalty program exhibits a positive influence on the small-independent retailer performance. The research supports the existence of a more complex that the consumer loyalty program fully mediates the relationships between strategic planning and functional-business strategy on retail performance. Moreover, the retailer–supplier relationship fully mediates the relationship between strategic planning and small retailer performance. These findings constitute a new contribution to the literature on small retailer research streams through the development of cross category relationships such as strategy, buyer behavior, and structure categories. Besides, this study can enhance the strategic management as well as the performance of small-independent retailers to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Efficiency and effectiveness of small retailers: The role of customer and entrepreneurial orientation

While it is generally agreed that a customer and entrepreneurial orientation enhance company performance in large multi-national organizations, relatively little is known about how these variables influence the small retailers that form a substantial part of national economic well-being. This study investigates the potential influences of these factors on the performance of small retailers in Switzerland, because this nation has long had a reputation for creativity, innovation and a customer focus. Performance is viewed as a two dimensional concept including an effectiveness and an efficiency perspective. Data for this study were collected through personal interviews from 261 SMEs. While customer orientation is found to be positively related to both efficiency and effectiveness, results only show a positive impact from entrepreneurial orientation on effectiveness. At the same time, entrepreneurial orientation is found to be a driver of customer orientation, and thus having an indirect impact also on efficiency for the small retail firms. All in all, the study shows that small retailers do indeed put an emphasis on both customer and entrepreneurial orientation in spite of their limited resources. It also stresses that this will increase their competitive advantage. In the light of existing literature, limitations and future research directions are subsequently addressed.

Market environment, assortment policy, and performance of small retailers

This study surveys small retail pharmacies to examine the relationship between managers’ perceptions of local market environments, their stated assortment policies, and their reported performance levels for a large product category. Managers report wider assortments when market diversity and market munificence are high. In turn, wider assortments have a positive effect on reported relative category sales and stock. In addition, market uncertainty has a direct negative effect on reported margins. This study controls for both store space as well as the potential direct performance effects of the local market environment faced by small retailers.

The Relationships of Social Capital to Downtown and Retailer Performance: Do Tourist Towns Differ from Nontourist Towns?

“A hundred friends are worth more than a hundred rubles” (Russian proverb). This research focuses on small retail businesses in nonurban, downtown areas of tourist destinations. These retailers, as well as the downtown in which they are located, have access to two intangible resources: local (social) capital between retailers and consumers and social network ties among retailers. Social capital and social network theory provide a theoretical foundation. The research first assesses the direct effects of these two independent constructs on downtown versus small retailer performance. Second, the authors argue that downtown performance impacts small retailer performance, making downtown performance a partial mediator. The impact of local capital and social ties on small retailer performance is thus hypothesized to be both direct and indirect, through downtown performance; this enables effects decomposition. Third, the authors explore whether the hypothesized relationships hold equally in tourist versus nontourist towns: are the strengths of the betas (i.e., the slopes) the same, given that tourist towns are more likely to be marketed? the results show that social ties impact downtown performance, which in turn impacts firm performance, but the strengths of paths are not the same across tourist versus nontourist towns. Implications for tourism professionals are offered.

Perspectives of Small Retailers in the Organic Market: Customer Satisfaction and Customer Enthusiasm

This article discusses the impact of customer satisfaction and enthusiasm on the performance of small retailers in the organic food market. The analysis of customer satisfaction and shop data confirm essential economic effects. The study is based on 948 customer interviews and an analysis of management ratios of 12 organic food shops in Germany. A structural equation modelling approach shows that customer service and product quality are the main determinants of customer satisfaction. The results demonstrate that customer enthusiasm is a more accurate factor in the recommendation of shops than customer satisfaction. The article ends with managerial and scientific implications.

Levels of strategy and performance in UK small retail businesses

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the way in which small retailer performance is influenced by strategy at different levels. It also aims to propose that business level strategy is more important to success than functional level strategy in small retail firms, as this is what enables them to distinguish their business from competitors and effectively set about competing in their markets.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a mail survey of 305 independent retailers in the UK. Multivariate statistical methods were used to develop appropriate variables and explore the relationships between level of strategy and performance.FindingsThe results indicate that business level strategy variables have a significant influence on performance whereas functional levels do not when their combined effects are analysed using hierarchical regression modelling.Research limitations/implicationsThe caveats normally associated with survey methods apply, as do those related to the use of cross‐sectional, self‐report, and managerial perceptions data. Implications for retail strategy theory and small retailers' performance are addressed.Practical implicationsThe importance of business level strategy generally and its specific elements are considered with a view to providing guidance to management decision makers and policy advisors.Originality/valueReliable measures for retail strategy variables are developed in the paper. The research distinguishes the performance effects of retail business strategy from retail functional strategy and supports the view that business strategy decisions are superior in their market significance over operational retail mix decisions.