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This study aims to develop an understanding of how customers of a physical retail store valuate receiving location-based mobile phone messages when they are in proximity of the store. It proposes and tests a model relating two benefits (personalization and location congruency) and two sacrifices (privacy concern and intrusiveness) to message value perceptions and store visit attitudes.

The study uses a vignette-based survey to collect data from a sample of 1,225 customers of a fashion retailer. The postulated research model is estimated using SmartPLS 3.0 with the consistent-PLS algorithm and further validated via a post-hoc test.

The empirical testing confirms the predictive validity and robustness of the model and reveals that location congruency and intrusiveness are the location-based message characteristics with the strongest effects on message value and store visit attitude.

The paper adds to the underexplored field of store entry research and extends previous location-based messaging studies by integrating personalization, location congruency, privacy concern and intrusiveness into one validated model.

To empirically study the uptake of collection‐and‐delivery points (CDPs) in The Netherlands and its consequences for retailers, shopping centres, and mobility.

The study uses 2006 data from an online consumer survey and data provided by the major CDP companies in The Netherlands. In addition, two Dutch directors of CDP companies were interviewed.

The service point is nowadays the dominant form of CDP in The Netherlands. However, in 2006 only 1.4 percent of all online orders in The Netherlands were delivered at a service point. In addition, Dutch consumers currently mainly use service points for returning their online orders. As such, positive mobility effects of service points are so far small. Nevertheless, for retailers operating a service point may lead to additional revenues, as one in four online shoppers make a purchase when collecting or returning a parcel.

Since service points – at least in The Netherlands – are nowadays mainly used for returning online orders, future empirical research should not neglect the reverse logistics function of CDPs.

Online shoppers are more willing to use the service point concept when they have many service points in the vicinity of their home. In addition, service points with many consumers in their immediate surroundings also perform best. A five minutes driving distance by car seems the critical accessibility value for the success of this concept.

Using nation‐wide representative samples the paper makes a significant contribution to the scarce empirical literature on the uptake and consequences of CDPs for retailers, shopping centres, and mobility.

In an increasingly technology-driven retail landscape, retailers face the challenge of making the most effective decisions regarding the selection and use of innovative technology. Although previous research provides insights into the added value of technology, it does not directly guide retailers in overviewing and selecting technology that supports their sales operations. This chapter contributes to the field of retail technology studies by introducing a sales-oriented model intended to assist retailers in inventorying available technologies and making decisions regarding the selection and use of these technologies for their physical stores. The model uses an updated version of the seven steps of selling as a foundation and, in line with the resource life cycle, decision support system and self-service technology literature streams, proposes applying technology in such a way that it supports the stages of the retailer's sales process. This chapter concludes with a discussion of practical guidelines for applying the model.

Using a continuous dataset, the purpose of this study is to explore the evolution of retailing in the historical city centre of Utrecht between 1974 and 2003.

Following an evolutionary framework entropy statistics and sector analysis are used to investigate the structural changes that have occurred over this period.

The results indicate important changes over time. First, there is a decline of shops selling daily and space consuming goods. Second, the expansion of some sectors and the emergence of new sectors has compensated fully for the loss of these shops. The success of some of these sectors is related to the rise of recreational shopping. Despite increased competition of “out‐of‐town” retailing and other forms of retailing, Utrecht's historical city centre has remained on top of the retail hierarchy in The Netherlands by transforming itself into an attractive location for recreational shopping.

The results indicate that new policies should encourage retail entrepreneurship to adapt to ever changing socio‐economic and spatial contexts. Furthermore, in most sectors that are under pressure, possibilities exist to shift to related categories through what may be called upgrading.

In the main, the data investigate sector dynamics. Future research on the evolution of retail locations using time‐series, therefore, should try to include more variables, like floor space, organisation type, etc. which can also provide explanations for the patterns of structural change.

The paper has introduced entropy statistics as a new technique to analyse sector variety dynamics of retail locations, since it captures both the number of sectors and the skewness of distribution.