Retailers In China Research Articles

网络零售业服务补救效果的实证研究

本文探讨网络零售业中，服务补救如何通过感知公平的不同维度对顾客补救后满意度和行为意向产生作用。以前人研究的理论成果为基础，结合我国网络零售业的特点，本文建立了感知公平、补救满意度、重购意向、口碑传播的关系模型，通过问卷调查法获取数据，采用结构方程对假设进行了验证。本研究表明，感知公平的三个维度对顾客满意都有正向影响；而感知程序公平对顾客的重购意向和口碑传播有显著的正向影响。 >Under the environment of online retailing, this paper discusses the impact of service recovery on customer’s satisfaction and behavioral intention through different dimensions of perceived justice. Based on the theoretical achievements of predecessors, combined with the reality of online retailing in China, this pa- per established a relationship model of perceived justice, satisfaction of service recovery, repurchase inten- tion and word of mouth. We collected data through questionnaire survey and verified the hypothesis by using structure equation. This study shows that all the three dimensions of perceived justice have positive influence on customer satisfaction. Moreover, perceived procedural justice has significant positive influence on cus- tomer repurchase intention and word of mouth as well.

Are supply-chain relationships more influenced by buyer-supplier relationships or the business environment of the country itself? Evidence from the ‘China-Australia’ trading relationship

In doing business with China, poor supply chain performance is reported as being caused by either poor relationships between firms in China or the business environment in which firms in China have to operate. This research paper explores the relative importance of these two factors for food supply chains from Australia to China. Results are based on surveys of 84 importers, wholesalers and retailers in China and 22 Australian exporters and wholesalers. They show that the country itself had a greater influence than firm to firm relationships. Firms exporting food to China should therefore keep supply chains as short as possible to minimize the uncertainties associated with the business environment.

Effects of business environment on international retail operations: case study evidence from China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of the business environment on operations strategy encompassed by competitive priorities in China's retail sector.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case study of a multinational retailer to understand how the company develops appropriate operations strategies to survive in the competitive and dynamic Chinese business environment.FindingsThe study identifies that companies intending to expand their businesses in emerging markets face many challenges in the new business environment, and that various dimensions of the business environment (e.g. business cost, competitive hostility, and environmental dynamism) affect the development of retail operations strategy. The strategy of flexibility is particularly important for international companies to survive in an increasingly dynamic and competitive environment. Foreign retailers need to be flexible and agile, adapting to the Chinese market environment in many ways in order to succeed.Originality/valueThis study seems to be the first in investigating the effects of the business environment on international operations strategy in the service (retail) sector, especially in the Chinese context.

Foreign retailers in China: the first ten years

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the important factors that influence foreign retailers' expansion in China. By doing so the paper proposes business strategies for foreign retailers to be successful in China and other emerging economies.Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach is employed to build theory. Five case studies were chosen, including the world's four largest retail firms: Wal‐Mart, Carrefour, Metro and Tesco, as well as the Japanese department store Heivado.Findings – The paper identifies six important activities in successful retail expansion: adaptation to the external environment; responses to psychic distance; establishment of business networking; localization; entry strategies into new areas; and the role of local management team. A new framework articulates the interdependent relationships between various factors embedded in retail internationalization, including external environment, internal drivers, psychic distance, and expansion strategies.Practical implications – The...

The Transformation of Urban Vegetable Retail in China: Wet Markets, Supermarkets and Informal Markets in Shanghai

The state-monopolised system of vegetable retail in socialist urban China has been transformed into a market-based system run by profit-driven actors. Publicly-owned wet markets not only declined in number after the state relegated its construction to market forces, but were also thoroughly privatised, becoming venues of capital accumulation for the market operators now controlling these properties. Self-employed migrant families replaced salaried state employees in the labour force. Governments' increased control over urban public space reduced the room for informal markets, exacerbating the scarcity of vegetable retail space. Fragmentation in the production and wholesale systems restricted modern supermarkets' ability to establish streamlined supply chains and made them less competitive than wet markets. The transformation of urban vegetable retail documented here shows both the advance that capital has made in re-shaping China's agrifood system and the constraints that China's socialist institutions impose on it. Shanghai's experience also shows that the relative competitiveness of various retail formats is shaped by the state's intervention in building market infrastructure and institutions.

Dynamic capabilities in a turbulent market environment: empirical evidence from international retailers in China

Dynamic capabilities, understood as the ability to renew a firm's competences, enable a firm to attain competitive advantage over time, and successful performance in a turbulent environment. The present research explored the dynamic capabilities of international retailers in China from a grounded theory perspective. In-depth interviews with top managers identified 11 dimensions of dynamic capabilities. Their specificities in the field of retail internationalization, and the implications for how to build and classify dynamic capabilities for international retailers through the firm's strategic activities in the host country, are discussed.

“Lucky” numbers, unlucky consumers

Superstitious beliefs affect economic activity and may have noticeable economic impacts. In China, numbers often convey certain superstitious meanings. Retailers in China manipulate digital patterns on price tags to fit consumers’ superstitious preferences. In this paper, I analyze such superstitious manipulations using a large sample of price tags from Beijing, China. I also estimate the aggregate economic impacts of superstitious manipulations of retail price tags. The analytical results and the estimations presented in this paper suggest that Chinese consumers pay extra for their superstitious beliefs when they purchase goods. Retailers are the clear winners in superstitious manipulations of digital patterns in price tags.

Informal institutional constraints and their impact on HRM and employee satisfaction: evidence from China's retail sector

This paper seeks to assess whether informal institutions can affect human resource management practices. Specifically, we examine whether the social norm of respect for authority, an important informal social institution in countries like China, constrains employee participation, and whether this affects employee satisfaction in foreign-invested and state-owned retailers in China, respectively. Data are derived from questionnaires completed by almost 1900 employees at 22 foreign-invested and state-owned retail stores in nine Chinese cities. We indicate that a norm such as respect for authority can operate as a constraint on human resource management practices such as employee participation with related impacts upon satisfaction levels in foreign-invested and state-owned retailers, but that these play out in unexpected ways.

Effects of firm characteristics on the link between business environment and operations strategy: evidence from China's retail sector

Drawing on contingency theory, this study aims to examine the impacts of firm characteristics on the nature of relationships between business environmental factors and operations strategy choices. This study uses a path analytic framework to understand the effects for a sample of retail firms in China. Our findings suggest that the strongest business environmental factors that influence the degree of emphasis placed on operations strategy choices is environmental dynamism (such as changes in retail technology and innovations in new service development). When faced with the same environmental stimuli, firms with different firm characteristics (such as firm size, firm age, and firm nationality) choose to emphasise different operations strategies. For instance, the impact of labour availability on operations strategy choices is different for big and small firms. The effect of environmental dynamism on operations strategy choice seems to be much stronger for local firms than foreign firms in China. Compared with old firms, new firms appear to pay much more attention to competitive market forces during their operations strategy choices.

Chinese consumers' perception of hypermarket store image

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is first, to find out store image attributes valued by Chinese consumers in Beijing; second, to understand Chinese consumers' preference by comparing an international retailer with a domestic retailer; and third, to provide both international and domestic retailers with suggestions for store image improvement.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a three‐stage approach to collect the data. First, two waves of semi‐structured interviews were carried out, followed by a survey, concluding with another wave of interviews. The survey data were analyzed using SPSS.FindingsThe paper finds that there are 18 important attributes in building a hypermarket retailer's store image in China. Beijing consumers are more concerned with a retailer's reputation and services than with the price. In terms of store image dimensions, the paper concludes that store atmosphere is the most important, followed by service personnel and merchandise.Research limitations/implicationsThe research scope is limited to Beijing.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of the findings are that: store atmosphere is the most important store image dimension for Beijing consumers; Chinese consumers no longer look only for low prices; international hypermarket retailers hold better store image than domestic retailers; and corporate reputation is important for hypermarket retailers in China, followed by quality of goods and staff's service attitude.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to investigate Chinese consumers' perception of store image and top concerns when shopping at a hypermarket.

Small business industrial buyers' price sensitivity: Do service quality dimensions matter in business markets?

One of the major obstacles to effective pricing emanates from difficulties experienced in predicting business buyers' price sensitivity. With a view to obviating these obstacles, this study examines the effect of five key physical distribution service quality dimensions on price sensitivity from the perspective of small and medium retail buyers. Based on a survey of 233 cellular phone retailers in China, the authors articulate how the five salient service quality dimensions exert either direct effects on price sensitivity or indirect impacts through perceived value and customer satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are also provided for effective retailer relationship management, profitability improvement, and customer segmentation in distribution channels.

Research on the Own Brand Marketing Strategy of Retail Enterprises in China

With the Chinese government WTO promise coming to true, the retail industry in China have become the highest market-oriented industry. In order to survive, marketing strategy for continuous innovation will be continued, and the development of self- brand is innovation strategies. To create own brands for retailers in an increasingly competitive and growing homogenization of the Chinese market is different strategy and a powerful weapon for competitive advantage. Own brand has become the world's booster in various regions to promote the growth of retail business, AC Nielsen research shows that in the global market, the rate of development of 2 / 3 of the own brand are more than that of manufacturer brand. But in the domestic market, own brand is just in its infancy which need retailers arouse attention. Retailers own brand (Private Brand) is brand that the retailers choose the right investment in factories or manufacturing enterprises in the relevant manufacturer or have some stake in their production by manufacturers, which are marked with retailers to develop their own brand. Retailers own brand first appeared in 1928, when Britain's Marks & Spencer Group's single brand strategy - selling mainly its own brand, Saint Michael series of products, Saint Michael brand has been recognized own-brand products model for the British. In the late of 20th century 60s, own brand became rivals of manufacturer brand especially for the packaged consumer goods. In recent years, retailers in China have also developed its own brand. Shanghai Hualian Supermarket launch series products marked thrifty brand in 1996, Beijing Hualian Supermarket own brand development is since 2000 and has developed more than 20 brands, 146 items. 1. The advantage of retailers own brand

Predicting market orientation: Chinese retailers in a transitional economy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an investigation of market orientation of retailers in China, an emerging economy. Several predictors of Chinese retailers' market orientation are examined.Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data collected from 99 retailers in China, the paper tests the hypothesized relationships using a multiple regression model.FindingsThe paper finds that perceived supplier market orientation (SMO), firm size, and ownership are predictors of retailer market orientation (RMO). The results of this paper suggest that market orientation is perceived as important and is being adopted by retailers with varying ownerships and structures across China.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has several limitations including sample, sample size, and single‐respondent design. Nevertheless, the paper depicts a contemporary picture of Chinese retailers' adoption of market orientation.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide both retailers and suppliers strategies for improving market orientation and insights for effective channel management.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on retailer perspectives with the goal of determining the value of assessing the SMO; results from this study provide support for a link between the extent of RMO and how market‐oriented behavior coincides with perceived SMO.

Strategy and Sustainable Competitive Advantage of International Retailers in China

This article focuses on the relationship between international retailers' core competences, resources, and strategy in the Chinese context. The authors first review the key concepts and dimensions of core competences, then analyze the field data generated by in-depth interviews with key managers of the main international retail subsidiaries in China. They then point out the impact of the competitive structure of distribution, which is the most important environmental factor in China. Then they describe how an international retail subsidiary in China can create and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Finally, they consider the managerial implications of this.

Retail change in China: retrospect and prospects

The transformation of retailing in China is described, with reference to past developments (Retrospect) and emerging trends (Prospects). Retail practice is considered by looking at supply-side structural changes and changing patterns of consumer demand. Convergence towards international norms is evident, but so too are signs of distinctiveness and even divergence. Retail research agenda are considered in light of changes in practice, including calls for more systematic, analytical approaches to provide rigorous and informed views of developments in China, and more in-depth interpretative studies to capture contextual nuances. The article concludes with observations about the future of retailing within China and across China's wider sphere of influence.

Core competences, strategy and performance: the case of international retailers in China

This research aims to analyse the central role of core competences in retail internationalisation. The authors analyse field data generated from in-depth interviews of top Chinese subsidiary managers, using the principles of the grounded theory methodology. The inductive process identified two types of core competences in the subsidiaries of international retailers: basic competences and architectural competences. This classification leads to research propositions on the impact of the core competences on strategy choice, and on the performance of the subsidiaries of international retailers.

A standardised approach to the world? IKEA in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the marketing strategy in China of the furnishing retailer IKEA in the context of standardisation and adaptation of marketing activities. IKEA's strategy in China is compared to its corporate strategy throughout the rest of the world.Design/methodology/approachThe four P classifications are used as a framework to compare the central marketing strategies of IKEA with marketing strategies used in China. The paper builds on both primary and secondary data. Interviews with senior managers at IKEA are conducted and studies on business and retailing in China are used.FindingsThe marketing strategies used by IKEA in China are found to be different from the standardised strategies it uses throughout the rest of the world. Several of the changed strategies are central to the business concept of IKEA.Research limitations/implicationsThe present paper shows the challenges for a standardised marketing concept and its implications.Originality/valueThe paper provides, in the context of the standardisation and adaptation of marketing activities, a more nuanced and up‐to‐date picture of the strategies used by IKEA compared to previous studies.

The Study of China Retail Business Development Strategy

After China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), many retail investors from all over the world are developing quickly in China. They are expanding their market size and share, thus Chinese retailers are facing more severe competition. Chinese retailers need not only understand themselves as well as understanding their components so that Chinese retailing will continue to exist and develop in the acute competition environment.

One Store, Two Employment Systems: Core, Periphery and Flexibility in China's Retail Sector

AbstractResearch on ‘flexible’ or ‘contingent work’, derived primarily from manufacturing and production contexts in Western settings, has often been theorized in terms of a core‐periphery model. Based upon ethnographic research on vendor representatives and regular store employees conducted at a multinational retail firm in China, we indicate that this model is insufficient to capture the complexity of employment arrangements in this context. This article delineates the coexistence of two employment systems and a quadrilateral relationship in which workers' interests sometimes overlap but often compete. Our research also indicates that institutional arrangements in China significantly affect the strategies that are open to firms and the consequent structure of employment relations.

Outlets: the New Favorite of Apparel Industry

In recent years, along with the fast development of China retail industry, outlets, the brand-new retailing form has entered China. This paper briefly analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of outlets, and puts forward three tactics for its operation.