Retail Choice Research Articles

Research on the recycling decision of WEEE in rural China under dual supervision

Against the backdrop of promoting green, low-carbon, and high-quality development, this paper aims to promote efficient recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in rural China. In this paper, considering the integrated development of urban and rural areas and the standardization of industrial recycling system, under the joint action of the extension of producer responsibility and “dual regulation” of supply and marketing cooperatives, the evolutionary game model and system dynamics model of three-level recycling network of farmers, supply and marketing cooperatives and retailers are established. The mechanism of the participants to promote the recycling of WEEE in rural areas is discussed and the strategic choices and interactive relationships of various entities in the evolutionary process were used to analyze through the evolutionary game method. Meanwhile, using the theory of system dynamics, the main influencing factors of different evolution stages and the dynamic change process of the system are analyzed. The results show that: (1) supply and marketing cooperatives, retailers, and farmers can initially tend to participate in and supervise the recycling of WEEE; however, (2) they can finally achieve strong supervision, actively undertake and participate in the recycling and stabilization stable strategy of rural WEEE depends on their benefits and cost of expenditure expenditures are reasonable. (3) The strategic choice of supply and marketing cooperatives has the most significant impact on the strategic choice of retailers and the strategic choice of retailers has the most significant impact on the strategic choice of farmers.

Navigating the Customer Experience Landscape: Unraveling the Dynamics of AI-driven Chatbot Services for FMCG Retailers

This paper evaluates the impact of AI-based chatbot services on the FMCG retail sector’s customer satisfaction. The data of 615 respondents was collected from FMCG customers in organized retail shops in and around the Albaha region of Saudi Arabia. The study acquired data from consumers who used chatbot services for the purchase of FMCS products. Seven hypotheses were formulated and tested to explain the relationships between these variables. It was found that responsiveness is related to customer satisfaction and affects the conversational tone. Further, the adopted conversational tone also influenced customer satisfaction, and the customers were able to process it better. Privacy concerns have an important role in how customers communicate online. This study contributes to the choice of FMCG retailers as far as customizing the chatbot services to ensure that their conversational tone is responsive and mindful of privacy matters in an attempt to increase satisfaction. Further this study can be generalized in other geographic regions with similar setup in order to understand the consumer behavior.

Consumers' interaction with online fashion retailers' body measurement guidance

PurposeOnline fashion retailers offer body measurement guidance, alongside their target consumer body size charts and fit information, to help consumers select the right size garment as the garment cannot be tried on. Its use by retailers suggests it can act as a means of mitigating garment returns as there has been a noted increase in returns due to incorrect size selection even though body measurement instructions are provided online. The purpose of this research is to determine how consumers interact with body measurement guidance, how they interpret it and use it, thereby interrogating its efficacy.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory investigation was undertaken. Thirty participants were recruited and given a choice of fashion retailers' body measurement guidance and a tape measure. They took their body measurements over their clothes. A technician repeated the task, thereby providing two sets of body measurements. A paired t-test determined if there was a significant difference in both values in terms of their mean. Technicians also documented their observations of how the participants interacted with the task. The content of the fashion retailer measurement guidance was then compared to that of published anthropometric guidance for surveys.FindingsParticipants were familiar with the guidance and tape-measure; they were able to self-measure. The fashion retailer measurement guidance, however, lacked detail/clarity in visuals and written content when compared to anthropometric guidance. Interpretation of the guidance differed between participant and technician. This resulted in a significant difference in circumference measurements for the bust/chest and hips, yet no significant difference in waist and inside-leg measurements. For measurements that were difficult to take unaided, participants devised novel practices which resulted in little divergence from the technician taken body measurements. The results question the guidance efficacy in its current form.Originality/valueThere has been no study which addresses how consumers interpret and interact with fashion retailers' online measurement guidance. This is important as this can mitigate garment returns. This research provides insight to influence fashion retailers' measurement guidance policy. It also adds to the existing body of knowledge surrounding anthropometric practice for clothing.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings indicated that fashion retailers need to revise their body measurement guidance content. The content needs to be more comprehensive but still use accessible language and visuals. The broader implications of this study highlight that traditional anthropometrics for self-taken body measurement needs developing as an emerging concept through clothing-related academic study.Practical implicationsFashion retailers' measurement guidance needs to be more comprehensive but still use accessible language and visuals. The broader implications of this study highlight that traditional anthropometrics for self-taken body measurement needs further investigation and documentation as an emerging concept through clothing-related academic study.

Optimizing prices in trade-in strategies for vehicle retailers

In the vehicle industry, there are two trade-in services: TONF, that is trade-in for a new oil-fueled automobile (OFA), and TONE, that is trade-in for a new energy vehicle (NEV). So, when TONE and TONF coexist, how can companies make trade-offs among different trade-in strategies and formulate the corresponding optimal pricing. Therefore, considering the different of consumer’ mileage anxiety to NEVs, a supply chain trade-in game model composed of a manufacturer and a retailer was constructed. It not only discusses the threshold conditions for retailers to offer only TONE, TONF and both, but also gives the corresponding optimal pricing decision. We found the following: the retailer's trade-in strategy is not only affected by the production cost, but also related to the manufacturer’s recycling prices. Consumers’ mileage anxiety about NEVs will also have an important impact on the choices of retailers’ trade-in strategy, especially when the production cost is in the middle. Government subsidies for NEVs, durability and residual value gains of OFAs have a huge impact on retailers' choice of trade-in strategies when consumers have greater mileage anxiety, but have no effect when consumers have less mileage anxiety. When consumers have different mileage anxiety of NEVs, the retailer chooses the optimal trade-in strategy in the case of less mileage anxiety (Case Ⅱ) and may not be able to achieve ideal profits.

Strengthening the Understanding of the Context for Airport City Planning: A Case Study on Airport City Parafield

Airport Cities have gained momentum all over the world in the last decades. However, Airport City planning often follows a one-size-fits-all blueprint approach, with many elements incompatible with the regional, economic, and cultural context. Using a general aviation Airport City in Adelaide in South Australia as the case context, we survey the retail choices of airport users and compare them with existing facilities and those retail facilities at Airport Cities of large commercial airports from the literature and industry examples. We found that desired retail facilities at Airport City Parafield are widely different from those at large-scale commercial hub airports and commonly promoted in the Airport City literature. The results indicate that preferences for retail facilities in the Airport City differ depending on the airport user groups, which are determined by the role of the airport. These findings suggest that the often practised one-size-fits-all approach in Airport City planning should be reconsidered. In summary, this study helps to augment both knowledge and practice by reinforcing the importance of planning retail facilities in Airport Cities in alignment with the airport role, the airport user groups, and the regional, economic, and cultural context.

Finding a home away from home: Housing choices of itinerant immigrant retailers in the Wa municipality, Ghana

AbstractGlobally, cross‐border migration has become a common phenomenon as people search for social and economic prospects and opportunities. Intra‐regional migration and trade, as espoused in several treaties, are expected to encourage the movement of people, goods and services across national borders. Among those involved in intra‐Africa migration are itinerant retailers who have been variously studied, albeit with little attention to their housing choices when they arrive in destination areas. This study draws evidence from Wa to examine the residential choices of itinerant immigrant retailers using a qualitative research approach via in‐depth interviews with 22 immigrants, eight landlords and four informal rent agents. The itinerant immigrants were contacted at the Wa central market as well as their popular networking and relaxation spaces in town. The responses obtained from the interviews were categorized into themes and presented in narrations and quotations. The study found that itinerant immigrants preferred low‐income residential neighbourhoods close to the central business district that they secure through friends and relatives and informal rent agents. However, the housing units were generally bereft of basic amenities, and they face tenant–landlord and tenant–tenant conflicts over the payment of utility bills and home maintenance, as well as overpricing of rent by the informal rent agents. Efforts to regulate the activities of informal rent agents and petty landlords to provide minimal protection for immigrants should be the way forward in dealing with the challenges.

Retailing during the COVID-19 lifecycle: a bibliometric study

PurposeCOVID-19 disrupted the lives of consumers across the globe, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest hits. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers' retail choice behaviour and retailers' responses has been studied in detail through multiple lenses. Now that the effect of COVID-19 is abating, there is a need to consolidate the learnings during the lifecycle of COVID-19 and set the agenda for research post-COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachScopus database was searched to cull out academic papers published between March 2020 and June 6, 2022, using keywords; shopping behaviour, retailing, consumer behaviour, and retail channel choice along with COVID-19 (171 journals, 357 articles). Bibliometric analysis followed by selective content analysis was conducted.FindingsCOVID-19 was a black swan event that impacted consumers' psychology, leading to reversible and irreversible changes in retail consumer behaviour worldwide. Research on changes in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns has been mapped to the different stages of the COVID-19 lifecycle. Relevant research questions and potential theoretical lenses have been proposed for further studies.Originality/valueThis paper collates, classifies and organizes the extant research in retail from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies three retail consumption themes: short-term, long-term reversible and long-term irreversible changes. Research agenda related to the retailer and consumer behaviour is identified; for each of the three categories, facilitating the extraction of pertinent research questions for post-COVID-19 studies.

Research on Retailers' Ordering Strategies Considering Customer Behavior Responses Under the Risk of Supply Disruption

On the basis of considering a two-level supply chain consisting of a retailer and two suppliers, the expected profit model under the single-source and dual-source procurement patterns of the retailer was constructed to explore the impact of supply disruption risk on the retailer's choice of suppliers, and then to obtain the optimal ordering strategy and the expected profit of the retailer under different conditions. Results show that: (1) Retailers' ordering strategies are influenced by a variety of factors, such as the risk of supply disruption, the selling price of goods, the retailer's out-of-stock costs, option contract prices, and execution prices. That is, retailers are more inclined to adopt a dual-source sourcing strategy when option prices and strike prices decrease or when selling prices and out-of-stock costs increase. (2) Retailers would choose to single source from risk suppliers rather than option suppliers in order to maximize profits. (3) When the risk of supply interruption increases, the expected profit of retailers would decrease. Although the use of option contracts can withstand certain interruption risks, adding option suppliers is not always better than purchasing from risk suppliers alone.

Competitive contract design in a retail supply chain under demand uncertainty

AbstractThis article studies the design of contracts involving a single retailer and multiple competing manufacturers who supply substitutable products. We consider a retail context in which contracts with manufacturers are negotiated relatively infrequently and signed before the demand environment is known, and the retail prices are determined when the demand is known. We develop a Stackelberg model to study the retailer's product selection and pricing decisions and the manufacturers' contract design decisions. We show that it is optimal for each manufacturer to offer a contract with nonlinear prices so that total payments are the total production cost plus a fixed additional cost. In the case of two manufacturers this result allows us to characterize an equilibrium in which the retailer's choice maximizes the supply chain profit, each manufacturer makes a profit equal to its marginal contribution to the supply chain, and the retailer takes the remaining profit. We also find that while increasing demand correlation always benefits the retailer, it benefits the manufacturers only when the production costs are convex. In an extension it is found that our equilibrium continues to hold when the retailer's reservation profit is below a threshold, but the competition dynamics may change when the reservation profit is above the threshold. Finally, we show that the equilibrium results remain true for the case with more than two manufacturers under a submodularity property, which holds in the case of quadratic costs and linear demand.

On selling format choice and quality differentiation in dual‐channel supply chains

AbstractWhen suppliers sell products through a direct channel and an indirect channel, they usually differentiate the two channels by quality to alleviate channel conflicts. The quality choice for different channels poses a great challenge to the suppliers, which also bears implications for the online retailer's choice between the reselling format and the agency format. This paper uses a game‐theoretic model to investigate the interaction between the supplier's quality differentiation strategy and the online retailer's selling format choice in dual‐channel supply chains. Different from the previous literature, we endogenize the supplier's quality decisions and find that the supplier always chooses to sell the high‐quality product through the direct channel and sell the low‐quality product through the online retailer. Moreover, compared with the reselling format, the quality level of the low‐quality product is reduced but that of the high‐quality product is lightly increased under the agency format. The intuition is that the supplier tends to highlight the advantage of each channel to acquire more profit. Regardless of the supplier's choice, the online retailer always prefers the agency format. We further extend our model in several important directions, which lend robustness to our core insights.

Determinants of farmers’ decision to choice market outlets: Evidence from milk producer farmers in Ada’a Berga District Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, many initiatives have been implemented to empower smallholder dairy farmers to develop viable livelihoods from the sector. The problem with these policies is the inability to reach farmers at large, and dairy farmers in rural areas are always challenged to deliver milk and milk products faster to the final market. The study was aimed at investigating factors that influence market channel choices among dairy producers in Ada’a Berga district Ethiopia. This paper uses data from a survey of 123 dairy producer households in four rural kebeles to analyse the factors that influence the choice of a milk marketing channel. Multivariate probit econometric model results show that income from dairy source, market information and educational level of household affected wholesaler outlet. The choice of consumer outlet is influenced by family size, membership in a dairy cooperative, market information, non-dairy income and income from dairy source. Number of milking cows, membership in a dairy cooperative and non-dairy income determined the choice of dairy cooperative outlet. The choice of district retailer’s market outlet was affected by sex of households, membership in a dairy cooperative and income from dairy sources. Choice of rural collector outlet is negatively influenced by non-dairy income and access to an extension contact. Therefore, policies should be designed that encourage farmers’ cooperatives, contract farming and collective action in order to lower transaction costs, expand market information for dairy producers, expand extension services and expand infrastructures such as road and transportation facilities, which are needed to promote the effective marketing of milk through all outlets.

Analysis on the influence of retailer's introduction of store brand under manufacturer's product line strategy

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>As the introduction of store brand (SB) by retailers becomes more common, national brand manufacturers (NBM) in the market often respond with a product line strategy. Then how should retailers decide their product lines under the situation that NBM adopt product line strategy? Under the manufacturer's product line strategy, this paper compares and analyzes three competitive strategies for retailers to introduce high-end SB, low-end SB and SB product line. The results show that: First, no matter what kind of competition strategy the retailer adopts, (1) the introduction of SB occupies the market share of NB; (2) the retailer gains the highest unit income from the high-end products of NB manufacturers. Second, the relationship between production cost and encroachment effects directly affects the retailer's choice of optimal competitive strategy and the manufacturer's preference for its competitive strategy choice. Finally, from the perspective of profit maximization, the optimal choice for retailers is the product line competition strategy, but this strategy is not obvious compared with the high-end competition strategy. Therefore, when retailers introduce product lines, if they are effectively threatened by national brand manufacturers (for example, NBM refuses to provide national brands to retailers), retailers may choose the suboptimal strategy, that is, to introduce store brand high-end products. When the high-end products of store brands are better than the low-end products of national brands and the production cost of products is relatively high, this strategy just meets the expectations of national brand manufacturers for retailers to introduce strategies.</p>

Research on Try-before-you-buy Strategy Under Product Fit Uncertainty

With the rapid development of online retail, the drawback of product fit uncertainty in online markets are becoming more and more prominent. In order to alleviate the impact of the product fit uncertainty, online retailers continue to introduce new service strategies. Based on the uncertainty of product matching, this paper constructs and solves the model of direct sales and try-before-you-buy(TBYB) strategy by online retailers under the premise of whether to allow returns. And explore the optimal strategy for the e-retailer in different aiming. The results show that: When the product fit is low, the optimal strategy choice for online retailers is TBYB strategy. When the product fit is high, if products are allowed to be returned, sell the product directly is the optimal strategy choice; if not, both TBYB and direct sales are optimal strategies. When the product fit is moderate, for products that are allowed to be returned, sell products directly when aiming to maximize demand and adopt the TBYB strategy when maximize profits. For products that are not allowed to be returned, Online retailers should sell products directly when aiming to maximize demand.

대형 할인점의 특성이 소매기업의 점포선택에 미치는 영향분석

This study aims to analyze the relationships between the retailers’ store choice and the characteristics of hypermarket stores and to identify the differentiated store choice strategies of retailers. The main results of the analysis of this study are as follows; First, in relation to the characteristics of land and buildings, large-scale store, parking convenience store, and standard stores have a positive (+) influence on the store choice of transnational retailers(TNRs); On the other hand, they have a negative (-) influence on the store choice of Korean incumbent retailers(KIRs). Second, in relation to the characteristics of trade areas and locations, exclusive location and residential districts have a negative (-) influence on the store choice of TNRs; On the other hand, they have a positive (+) influence on the store choice of KIRs. Third, in relation to the characteristics of competition and management, proximity to traditional markets, bidding methods, and M&A(Merger and Acquisition) have a positive (+) influence on the store choice of TNRs; On the other hand, they have a negative (-) influence on the store choice of KIRs. Last but not least, in the view of the differentiated strategies of the retailers, Homeplus used the fast follower strategies such as standard stores, nodular locations, proximity to traditional markets, and bidding methods and M&A. Emart used the first-mover strategies such as strategic formats(diversification), suburban locations and organic growth. Lottemart used the latecomer strategies such as standard stores, a monopoly location and proximity to a subway station, heterogeneous agglomeration locations.

Research on the Anti-Risk Mechanism of Mask Green Supply Chain from the Perspective of Cooperation between Retailers, Suppliers, and Financial Institutions

Against the background of the pandemic, the mask supply chain faces the risk of pollution caused by discarded masks, the risk of insufficient funds of retailers, and the risk of mask overstock. To better guard against the above risks, this study constructed a two-party game model and a cusp catastrophe model from the perspective of the mask green supply chain, and studied the strategic choices of retailers and suppliers in the supply chain affected by the risk of capital constraints and overstock. The result shows that the risk shocks will lead to the disruption of the mask green supply chain, and the main factors affecting the strategy choice of mask suppliers and retailers are mask recycling rate, deposit ratio, risk occurrence time, etc. In further research, this study involved a mechanism for financial institutions, mask retailers, and the government to jointly deal with the risk of mask overstock, the risk of retailers' insufficient funds, and the risk of environmental pollution from discarded masks. The research path and conclusion of this study reveal the risks in the circulation area of mask supplies during the pandemic, and provide recommendations for planning for future crises and risk prevention.

Strategic management of companies' adaptive behavior

AbstractThe modern stage of economic growth is accompanied by sophisticated, multifaceted, and diverse processes, including globalization, the evolution of a new technological paradigm, the growing scarcity of available resources, and changing consumer demands and preferences. In this context, the ability of businesses to quickly and adequately adapt to changes, induced by the external environment, is crucial to their long‐term success. Awareness of these circumstances has led to increased research interest to the issues of managing the adaptability of businesses. The paper quantifies the major dependencies and controversies between the adaptability assessment methods and strategic development of entrepreneurship. The research findings provide an understanding of the overall trend of adaptability management and its impact on the business performance and management strategies that can be used to increase resistance to the extrinsic factors. The main methods of analysis include matrix‐based approaches to selecting the best strategic decisions. A methodical approach was proposed for a reasoned choice of retailers' strategic adaptation areas, which makes it possible to determine the optimal type of adaptation strategy and opens opportunities for determining the company's strategic pathway in its adaptation context. This paper addresses the current market‐driven settings of economic management and the issues of managing the retailers' adaptability in China, as well as the need to change the methods of their strategic management in order to develop a strong competitive position in today's fast‐paced environment and promote economic growth. The research findings can be applied in various types of businesses, regardless of the scale thereof.

Factors of customers’ channel choice in an omnichannel environment: a systematic literature review

The proliferation of mobile devices and the continuous development of online technologies has led to an increasing variety of channels, leaving customers with a choice of channel alongside the choice of product, service, or retailer. Any attempt to optimize customer experience and engage in successful omnichannel management will require a complete, multifaceted understanding of the processes around channel choice of customers. To date, the many existing studies around multi- and omnichannel research have failed to yield an integrated, comprehensive synthesis of factors involved in customers´ channel choice. Our study conducted a systematic literature review to the end of identifying the factors involved in channel choice which appear in the scientific literature on this topic over the last two decades. We retrieved 128 papers from three bibliographic databases (EBSCO Host, Scopus, and Web of Science) and carried out descriptive analysis on them. Qualitative thematic analysis inductively extracted 66 different factors of channel choice, each assignable to five broader categories, from the studies included in the review. The findings indicate that perceived channel characteristics, customer needs and situational or contextual factors influence customers´ channel choice directly, and customer characteristics and characteristics of products or services influence it indirectly. Alongside its presentation of an integrated conceptual framework comprising these relationships, our study details a comprehensive research agenda with regards to theories, contexts, and methods and, in particular, with regards to factors influencing customers´ channel choice. Our findings advance the academic understanding of channel choice behavior and provide researchers and practitioners in this area with information on important implications for omnichannel management.

Accessibility in sustainability transitions: U.S. electric utilities’ deployment of solar

Several policies promote the adoption of renewable electricity among incumbent utilities. Yet, the scale of consumer adoption appears limited by accessibility. The underlying factors inhibiting accessibility are exacerbated with low- and middle-income (LMI) consumers who not only have substantial income disparities but also make up a significant proportion of a utility's customer base. While prior research demonstrates that policies can help in scaling participation hurdles in solar, the extent to which utility efforts help to unlock the market potential for LMI participation is not evident. We contribute to distributional effects of environmental policy by evaluating utilities' efforts to provide consumer access to clean energy. Reviewing solar initiatives of utilities, as reflected on their website enhanced with secondary archival data, we find that the role of accessibility particularly for LMI households, either through community solar projects (CSP) or rooftop solar installations, is shaped by policy and complementary factors. Such factors include ownership models either through subscriptions or rooftop panel ownership, income disparity, the regulatory regime, and a combination of these factors. Our findings further suggest that utilities are more likely to support LMI accessibility to their CSPs in the presence of policy intervention such as solar incentives and retail choice markets when their customer base is significantly LMI households. In fact, LMI access by subscription is stronger in retail choice markets, whereas access to rooftop solar panels is an increasing function of income.

Product and Store Attributes' Influence on Buying Behavior and Retailer Choice for Jewellery Purchase

India has a long history of preference for Jewellery products made explicitly of gold or silver metals, either for style or prestigious investment. Jewellery purchase behavior of the consumers is influenced by various elements of the product, store, service, and promotion-related attributes. This research pointed out the impact of product and store-related factors on Jewellery consumers' purchasing behavior and their decision to shop at specific retail outlets. The survey was conducted among the Jewellery purchases in the Madurai region of Tamilnadu.

Coordinating markets for reliability: Resource adequacy as a public good

In parts of the United States where competitive wholesale electricity markets support prior state decisions to embrace retail choice, market-based reliability planning ensures the lights stay on. The assumption that a spot price alone would incentivize both efficient short-term market operations and drive long-term investment decisions was key to economic arguments for restructuring. However, separate capacity markets are needed to ensure that generation resources are available to meet a peak load plus a defined reserve margin, since a spot price alone is insufficient to enable long-term investment decisions. The debates over the future of markets for resource adequacy in wholesale power markets continue to rely on the idea that a market price alone can enable the energy transition. This is especially true in arguments that focus only on adding a price on carbon. At the heart of these assumptions, but largely unrecognized, is the idea that generation resource adequacy is a private good. Transitioning the electricity sector is critical to meeting economy-wide decarbonization targets. Recognizing the limits of prices alone to ensure the public good aspects of electric system reliability is key.