Retail Provision Research Articles

‘Sorry we do not deliver to your area’: geographical inequalities in online groceries provision

ABSTRACT The British grocery retail sector is experiencing rapid growth in online ordering for home delivery, resulting in considerable supply side investment in delivery and fulfilment infrastructure. For retailers with a physical store network, investments typically utilise larger format stores as delivery and fulfilment hubs. Proximity to the store network and delivery infrastructure capacity thus drive the availability and choice of online groceries provider at the neighbourhood level. We aim to assess the geographical extent of online groceries coverage at a small-area level in Great Britain (GB). We carry out a nationwide assessment of the provision of online groceries, revealing generally excellent coverage within urban and suburban areas, including those neighbourhoods that may have once been considered urban food deserts. However, rural–urban inequalities are evident, with the most remote and rural catchments experiencing comparatively poor online groceries provision. We argue that these inequalities give rise to a new form of food desert: remote and rural neighbourhoods with the compounded effects of poor access to physical retail provision (akin to ‘traditional’ food deserts) and the additional disadvantage of poor coverage by online groceries providers. Many of these neighbourhoods are already the most remote from physical store provision and may also be faced with withdrawal of physical (retail) services. We make a number of recommendations that could support the provision of online groceries services in these areas and reflect on the tremendous potential for ongoing research into widening inequalities in access to grocery retailing driven by the geography of online groceries.

Archetypes of Footfall Context: Quantifying Temporal Variations in Retail Footfall in relation to Micro-Location Characteristics

The UK retail sector is constantly changing and evolving. The increasing share of online sales and the development of out-of-town retail provision, in conjunction with the 2008–09 economic crisis, have disproportionately impacted high streets and physical retail negatively. Understanding and adapting to these changes is fundamental to the vitality, sustainability and prosperity of businesses, communities and the economy. However, there is a need for better information to support attempts to revitalise UK high streets and retail centres, and advances in sensor technology have made this possible. Footfall provides a commonly used heuristic of retail centre vitality and can be increasingly estimated in automated ways through sensing technology. However, footfall counts are influenced by a range of externalities such as aspects of retail centre function, morphology, connectivity and attractiveness. The key contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how footfall patterns are expressed within the varying context of different retail centre architypes providing both a useful tool for benchmarking and planning; but also making a theoretical contribution to the understanding of retail mobilities. This paper integrates a range of contextual data to develop a classification of footfall sensor locations; producing three representations of sensor micro-locations across Great Britain: chain and comparison retail micro-locations, business and independent micro-locations and value-orientated convenience retail micro-locations. These three groups display distinct daily and weekly footfall magnitudes and distributions, which are attributed to micro-locational differences in their morphology, connectivity and function.

Development and pilot of a tool to measure the healthiness of the in-store food environment.

To rigorously develop a tool which enables rapid yet comprehensive appraisal of the consumer food retail environment and provision of real-time feedback to store managers and owners, based on the '4Ps' principles of marketing. Multi-stage iterative approach including (1) Systematic literature review; (2) Stakeholder consultation; (3) Assessment of existing tools against identified needs; (4) Tool development; (5) Pilot testing and (6) Transition of tool to mobile application (the Store Scout app). Northern Territory, Australia. Nine remote Aboriginal community food stores; public health nutritionists, retailers, store board directors, Aboriginal community members, government representatives. Forty-seven existing tools and thirty-four stakeholder interviews informed the development of the current instrument, which comprised: (1) seven product categories (Fruit & Vegetables, Drinks, Snack Foods, Meals & Convenience Foods, Meat & Seafood, Dairy & Eggs, Breads & Cereals) across the '4Ps' (Product, Placement, Price, Promotion); (2) Store manager questions about context and perceived importance of key principles about the store environment and (3) a scoring and feedback component. The tool was considered feasible and acceptable by all testers. The developed tool addresses an unmet need to measure the consumer food retail environment across all 4Ps whilst also incorporating manager perspectives and immediate feedback. Our objectives of developing a comprehensive, feasible and acceptable instrument were achieved during pilot testing. The tool will support implementation of best practice within stores to encourage healthy food choices and has potential for broad application in retail settings locally and internationally, as well as for research purposes.

How has the introduction of point-of-sale legislation affected the presence and visibility of tobacco retailing in Scotland? A longitudinal study

BackgroundReducing the local availability of tobacco is identified as the ‘next frontier’ in tobacco control. This paper examines the roles of tobacco retail outlet density and tobacco visibility in changing...

Knowing the past, seeing the future - an exploratory study on the viability of retail patronage models based on revealed behaviour

ABSTRACT Understanding the viability and impact of out-of-town shopping centres is of equal importance for property developers, retailers, and city planners. In the current study, we aim to model and predict behavioural loyalty (operationalised as relative shopping frequencies, RSF) for an existing out-of-town shopping centre. Two separate sets of quantile regression models, one consisting of demographic independents and the other behavioural independents, were constructed. Two datasets, sampled in 2006 and 2011, enabled evaluation of the predictive power of our models and independents. To compare the performance of our explanatory variables over time, models with interaction were used. The results indicate that in the short-run (5–15 years), forecasts based on the current retail provision and consumer demographics together with information on proposed retail agglomerations in the area are likely to give sufficient information about the future viability of a shopping centre.

Convenience stores and well-being of young Japanese consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at perceptions of young Japanese consumers towards the convenience store, or konbini, with a view to understanding what attracts them to this retail format and exploring well-being in a new way that is more relevant the retail experience.Design/methodology/approachThe study looks at the emergence of the konbini as part of the Japanese food retail environment and reports on an online survey (n=453) of young Japanese consumer’s (>18 years old) attitudes towards this retail format.FindingsThe preliminary analysis of the data finds the konbini is a popular choice for young consumers for specific types of everyday goods. The main appeal lies in the ease of access, location of the stores and the ambience of the space that appeal to young consumer’s sense of well-being.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a purposeful sample of young Japanese consumers surveyed across several academic institutions.Practical implicationsKonbini must continue to innovate to attract young consumer while acknowledging the implications of their stocking policy on consumer well-being.Originality/valueThis offers a unique insight into the ways in which young Japanese consumers avail themselves of the food retail provision and provides a broader perspective on well-being in a retail environment that resonates with consumer practice.

The status of support for cannabis regulation in Uruguay 4 years after reform: Evidence from public opinion surveys.

The objective of this study was to measure the public support for marijuana legalisation in Uruguay, both overall and in its provisions, in nearly 4 years after its implementation. Three separate cross-national surveys were conducted in early 2014, late 2015 and mid-2017 with national representative samples of adults. The first study was carried out during the initial months of implementation of the law and used face-to-face interviews (N = 1490); the second survey was conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system (N = 703); and the third study (N = 1515), using face-to-face interviews, was completed just before the implementation of pharmacy sales. About 60.7% of respondents in 2014 were against marijuana legalisation; in 2017, 54.1% remained opposed to the marijuana law. In 2015, half of the people interviewed (49.9%) supported access to marijuana through self-cultivation, while 38.6% favoured the provision of cannabis clubs and 33.1% agreed with the pharmacy retail provision. Support for medical cannabis was high in 2015, with 74.5% favouring it. This study shows a change in the public opinion toward legalisation of marijuana although most people still remain opposed to the law. However, the data do not provide indication of a significant change in its use. Results suggest that opposition to legalisation may be focused on the pharmacy retail provision.

Deprivation and healthy food access, cost and availability: a cross-sectional study.

Food access, cost and availability have been identified as determinants of dietary choice. It has been suggested that these are socio-economically patterned; however, the evidence is inconclusive. The present study investigated whether differences exist with respect to healthy food access, cost and availability between areas of contrasting deprivation. An ecological, cross-sectional study was conducted in two of the most and two of the least deprived wards in Plymouth. Food retail outlets (FROs) (n = 38) were identified and mapped using Geographic Information Systems to assess 'physical access', by foot, to food retail provision. Healthy food basket (HFB) surveys were conducted (n = 32) to compare the cost and availability of 28 healthy food items between the more and less deprived areas. Areas of poor access to food retail provision were identified in both study areas, with a higher number of households in the more-deprived areas being affected than in the less-deprived areas, after accounting for car ownership levels. Median [IQR] HFB availability was lower in more-deprived than the less-deprived areas (48%, [39-71%] vs. 75%, [68-82%]; P=0.003), and in convenience stores than supermarkets (54%, [43-72%] vs. 78%, [72-96%]; P=0.001). Descriptive summaries revealed negligible differences in total median HFB cost between the more-deprived and less-deprived areas (£55.97 versus £55.94) and a larger cost difference between convenience stores and supermarkets (£62.39 versus £44.25). Differences were found with respect to healthy food access, cost and availability in areas of contrasting deprivation. These appeared to be related to FRO type rather than deprivation alone.

Unit Pricing in Supermarkets: Review of Past Evidence from Academic and Industry Studies

Unit Pricing in Supermarkets: Review of Past Evidence from Academic and Industry Studies

Convenience stores and discretionary food consumption among young Tokyo consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the question of young consumer’s discretionary consumption in Japan where the ready access to convenience stores, or “konbini”, presents a unique retail landscape and to look at how young Japanese consumers use this store format as part of their discretionary food consumption.Design/methodology/approachThis is an exploratory study that draws on primary qualitative data based on in store observations, accompanied shopping and a survey with young Japanese consumers. This approach provides an insight into the convenience store food offering and young consumer’s everyday food practices and experience of using these retail stores.FindingsThe data reveals a relatively limited range of purchases on each store visit with some variation across time of the day and between individuals and groups of young consumers. Visits before and after school remain the most popular and young consumers make around two to four visits per week to a convenience store. It finds young consumers actively engaged in independent purchasing decisions in this retail format.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an exploratory study with a geographically constrained sample conducted in several areas in and around Tokyo, Japan. It is a convenience sample recruited using student contacts and snowballing techniques.Practical implicationsConvenience stores represent an important “shopping habitat” for young consumers to engage in discretionary food shopping. While these convenience store purchases are not always unhealthy the promotion and pricing strategies used by retailers can have an influence on the final selection of products and convenience stores provide a unique opportunity to cultivate more healthful behaviour among young consumers.Originality/valueThis offers a unique insight into the relationship between young consumer’s discretionary food choice and local retail provision in the convenience sector. It adds to the debate on the role of food environment on food choice and the extent to which young Japanese consumers are socialised into particular food practices through their engagement with the convenience retail sector.

Marketplace icons: shopping malls

ABSTRACTThis article considers shopping malls as marketplace icons. We suggest that shopping malls can be regarded as a significant symbol of consumption in an age of late modernity, and highlight key aspects of their development. The role of the shopping mall as an agent of creative destruction, influencing the nature of the retail landscape (especially with regard to the implications of – stereotypically suburban – malls for traditional urban retail provision), is discussed. We also consider the implications for notions of “place” (in terms of authenticity and meaning, etc.) arising from the fundamental characteristics of shopping malls, and end by suggesting that the shopping mall, as a marketplace icon, continues to dynamically and iteratively define and refine the ongoing interactions between consumers, the act of consumption, and place and space

Trading-up on unmet expectations? Evaluating consumers’ expectations in online premium grocery shopping logistics

Geography and retail store locations are inherently bound together; this study links food retail changes to systemic logistics changes in an emerging market. The later include raising income and education, access to a wide range of technologies, traffic and transport difficulties, lagging retail provision, changing family structure and roles, as well as changing food culture and taste. The study incorporates demand for premium products defined by Kapferer and Bastien [2009b. The Luxury Strategy. London: Kogan Page] as comprising a broad variety of higher quality and unique or distinctive products and brands including in grocery organic ranges, healthy options, allergy free selections, and international and gourmet/specialty products through an online grocery model (n = 356) that integrates a novel view of home delivery in Istanbul. More importantly from a logistic perspective our model incorporates any products from any online vendors broadening the range beyond listed items found in any traditional online supermarkets. Data collected via phone survey and analysed via structural equation modelling suggest that the offer of online premium products significantly affects consumers’ delivery logistics expectations. We discuss logistics operations and business management implications, identifying the emerging geography of logistic models which respond to consumers’ unmet expectations using multiple sourcing and consolidation points.

Foreword - Asia's food safety and quality problems are global problems

The papers in this issue of ‘Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods’ focus on food safety problems in Asia. In many ways Asian food safety problems are like those of any other region of the world; primary producers work under sometimes difficult conditions, subject to environmental problems beyond their individual control, to provide raw materials which may move into long and complex supply chains. The consumer awaits the final retail provision of foods, typically at a store or restaurant, which are hopefully safe, affordable, nutritious and tasty.

Shopping and Services Related Travel in the Hinterland of Brno: Changes From the Socialist Period to the Present / Spádovost Za Obchodem A Službami V Zázemí Brna: Srovnání Období Socialismu A Současnosti

Abstract Shopping and services related travel represent significant aspects of the service functions of settlements and belong to basic region-forming processes. They are relatively irregular movements, and the analyses of these processes are based on data which are not available from official sources. This article presents some results from a survey on the attraction of retail and services provision, as exemplified by service processes in the hinterland of Brno City. The results from our survey contain both a time dimension in a single-model space (in terms of a comparison between current results and those from the socialist era at the end of the 1970s), and the possibility to compare various methodologies using responses from municipalities and those from local residents. Hence, this article presents an outline of selected changes in the shopping resources and shopping and services related travel in the Brno hinterland, over a period of about three decades, with some interesting methodological aspects.

Supermarkets versus local shopping: Welfare implications of retail provision mode

Presenting a novel model of local shopping, the benefit of monopoly provision due to market size effects is explored. Prices are lower, variety and aggregate consumer surplus higher, than local shopping but many shoppers’ utility falls. Policymakers should take care.

Mapping Food Desert Persistency in Thunder Bay, Ontario, 1996-2006

Thunder Bay, Ontario is a remote community that has been identified in recent government reports as having high percentage of residents living below the poverty line as well as having the largest increase in the province in food bank usage from 2007 to 2009. Identifying neighbourhoods with multiple risk factors and poor access to full-service food retail provision (i.e., food deserts) is a key step in strengthening the local food system. Food deserts were found in all three census years used in this study. Two food deserts persisted and many new food deserts appeared on peripheral regions of the city over this time period.

Consumer mobility in the Scottish isles: The impact of internet adoption upon retail travel patterns

While there have been numerous studies of on-line shopping behaviour, the impact of internet adoption upon island communities remains largely unexplored. This is despite the identified difficulties that are encountered when attempting to access goods and services in these peripheral economies. Limitations in the transport infrastructure, inconsistent supply and restricted availability have all been acknowledged as issues affecting local retail provision. Island residents have also traditionally been required to travel to the main town or mainland in order to shop for key items. This research study examines the extent to which on-line provision has reconfigured the mobility patterns of residents in the Scottish isles and whether e-commerce has reduced the propensity of individuals to undertake shopping related travel. The findings suggest that e-commerce has had only a modest impact upon consumer travel patterns and that other situational factors moderate the identified benefits that accrue from purchasing on-line.

Do perceptions of the neighbourhood food environment predict fruit and vegetable intake in low-income neighbourhoods?

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which perceptions of the quality, variety and affordability of local food retail provision predict fruit and vegetable intake. Secondary analysis of baseline data from the Philadelphia Neighbourhood Food Environment Study was undertaken. This study investigating the role of the neighbourhood food environment on diet and obesity comprised a random sample of households from two low-income Philadelphia neighbourhoods, matched on socio-demographic characteristics and food environment. The analytic sample comprised adult men and women aged 18–92 (n=1263). Perception of the food environment was measured using five related dimensions pertaining to quality, choice and expense of local food outlets and locally available fruits and vegetables. The outcome, portions of fruits and vegetables consumed per day, was measured using the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire. Results from multivariate regression analyses suggest that measured dimensions of perceived neighbourhood food environment did not predict fruit and vegetable consumption. Further investigation of what constitutes an individual′s ‘true’ food retail environment is required.

Restaurant location in Hamilton, New Zealand: clustering patterns from 1996 to 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the evolution of restaurant locations in the city of Hamilton over a 12‐year period (1996 to 2008) using GIS techniques. Retail theories such as central place, spatial interaction and principle of minimum differentiation are applied to the restaurant setting.Design/methodology/approachA database of restaurants was compiled using the NZ yellow pages and contained 981 entries that consisted mainly of location addresses and types of cuisine. This paper focuses on locational patterns only.FindingsA process of geo‐coding and clustering enabled the identification of two clustering periods over 12 years for city restaurants, indicating locational patterns of agglomeration within a short walking distance of the CBD and spill over effects to the north of the city.Research limitations/implicationsThe data do not allow statistical analysis of the variables causing the clustering but offer a visual description of the evolution. Explanations are offered on the possible planning regimes, retail provision and population changes that may explain this evolution.Practical implicationsThe findings allow identification of land use patterns in Hamilton city and potential areas where new restaurants could be developed. Also, the usefulness of geo‐coded data in identifying clustering effects is highlighted.Originality/valueExisting location studies relate mostly to site selection criteria in the retailing industry while few have considered the evolution of restaurant locations in a specific geographic area. This paper offers a case study of Hamilton city and highlights the usefulness of GIS techniques in understanding locational patterns.

Consumer Satisfaction with Local Retail Diversity in the UK: Effects of Supermarket Access, Brand Variety, and Social Deprivation

Levels of concentration in the grocery sector have led to concerns about reduced diversity of local retail provision and its potential negative effects on consumer welfare and choice. Using empirical evidence from a study of consumer perceptions of retail choice across nine purposefully sampled neighbourhoods in the city of Worcester in the UK, the paper illuminates consumer satisfaction with local provision and investigates how satisfaction varies with the local mix of grocery stores. The study adopts a stated-preference approach with realistic but hypothetical scenarios being presented to consumers in which the level, form, brand composition, and accessibility of local retail provision is systematically varied to gauge the sensitivity of householders in different types of neighbourhoods to variations in local retail assortments. The contributions of the paper are reflected in three main findings: (1) residents value having a large supermarket close by and reveal that they value diversity of provision rather than overconcentration; (2) consumers in deprived areas overall display greater satisfaction for the same offer than consumers in less deprived areas; and (3) although small stores in a local store assortment significantly contribute to reducing dissatisfaction with the local retail offer, they contribute little to achieving higher levels of consumer satisfaction. The study stresses the need for planners and policy makers to maximise choice and welfare through both the number and the diversity of stores in local neighbourhood areas.