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Small retail stores in the luxury market face significant challenges due to fluctuations in market demand. This task turns challenging as it requires effectively coordinating and translating customer needs into specific requirements that align with retail goals and available resources. However, limited empirical research exists investigating how managers can address service value and quality attributes in small retail stores. This article aims to bridge this gap by investigating the role of quality function deployment (QFD) in improving market and quality requirements management in small retail stores.

Based on the case study, a customer survey was initially conducted to gather information on critical characteristics valued in the luxury retail segment. QFD was used to assist the company in identifying and prioritizing key quality attributes to meet customer requirements effectively.

The findings demonstrate that implementing QFD in small luxury retail stores empowers managers to identify previously neglected product and service quality aspects. The article shows that QFD informs organizational adaptations that align with the demands of the retail market, leading to an improved ability to meet customer expectations and enhance customer value through the development of enhanced products and services. The study showcases the efficacy of the tested methodology in effectively capturing and prioritizing both tangible and intangible customer needs in retail.

Findings offer valuable insights to retail managers of small luxury stores, providing actionable market-oriented strategies. By implementing the recommended practices, managers can improve the store’s competitiveness and better cater to the customer base.

This study contributes to bridging persistent knowledge gaps by addressing the unique context of small luxury retail stores and introducing the application of QFD in this setting. The insights gained from this research are relevant to both retailing and quality management literature. Considering the growing prevalence of transformations in the retail industry, the study provides practical implications for retail managers in effectively navigating these changes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which luxury brand retailers use new technologies as a tool for corporate marketing communication.

The authors used a multiple-case study approach consisting of five information-rich cases, with the similar characteristics of large firms selling luxury brands which are aware of the importance of innovation. In each company, the authors interviewed the key person in charge of marketing innovation strategies and collected data from annual reports, press releases and direct observation of all the new technology categories used.

The findings of this paper reveal that this sector is considerably aware of the benefits of using new media as a marketing communication tool, while the effective use of these new media is still limited.

This paper provides an empirical contribution to the emerging topic of innovation and technology management in retailing, with the emphasis being placed on the luxury sector through an in-depth investigation of the usage of new technologies by the firms studied.

This paper is the first one investigating thoroughly the luxury sector usage of new technologies to improve corporate marketing communication.

This research aims to investigate the factors which contribute to the power of luxury brands in the stores and the means through which brand power meaning transfers to the clients.

The research protocol follows a phenomenological approach, through analyses of narratives of customers with lived shopping experiences in luxury stores. Data were collected in two phases: first, a collection of experiences from clients with different cultural backgrounds in the same store; second, a comparison of experiences for the same client in thirty-three luxury stores around the world. This cross-examination procedure enhances the trustworthiness of the findings.

Although French and Raven ' s typology of power (referent, reward, coercive, legitimate, expert) is relevant when studying the luxury brand-client relationship, it is not sufficient to explain entirely the sources of the luxury brand power. Through the brand cathedral (the flagship store), the brand ambassadors (sales representative), the brand protocol (rituals and selling ceremony) and the brand treasures (the products), the luxury brand exerts an auratic power which achieves the sacralization of the brand.

These marks of power are difficult to transfer virtually through internet websites. To establish this power, luxury brands need a control over their operations, at least the visual merchandising and the customer relationship. This reinforces the importance of retailing in the luxury industry and the strategic role of company-owned-stores, particularly in “new luxury markets” where the auratic power of the brand is not necessarily established. Additionally, when there is power asymmetry in a service encounter, the customer becomes “hyper-vigilant” regarding the service provided. In luxury stores, the salespersons should be trained to deliver a luxury service, personalized to the very needs of the client.

To the authors ' knowledge, this research is the first to investigate consumers ' perception of luxury brand power.

This paper deals with the international development of firms through the online sales channel. Despite the ever-growing importance of the issues involved in such internationalization strategies, they have received limited attention in the literature.

The paper presents an analysis of an expressly developed database of 20 multibrand luxury retailers in the online fashion market

The analysis highlights the international dimension of these players and sheds some light on internationalization through e-commerce of the luxury fashion retailers. In particular, the paper states that e-commerce may be related to different degrees of internationalization in multibrand luxury fashion retailers and that internationalization of multibrand luxury fashion retailers through e-commerce is unrelated to physical stores abroad.

Future research should be aimed at analyzing the characteristics of a greater number of actor, such as mono-brand luxury manufacturers, also comparing the fashion system with other sectors where the online channel exhibits a similar important trend.

The paper’s originality is related to a new phenomenon that has yet to receive appropriate consideration in the literature, the online international company growth with particular focus on the online channel as a new means to develop into foreign markets

This research provides a comprehensive overview of the luxury brand cognitive and affective experience, category ownerships and consumption level of affluent adult consumers in the USA. The purpose of this study was to illuminate generational cohorts’ differences and/or similarities among the consumers regarding collecting behavior of, brand self-congruity toward and emotional brand attachment with fashion luxury brands.

Using a cross-sectional quantitative approach, the authors conducted a national, representative online survey, 443 usable responses were collected from four generational cohorts, namely, older boomers, younger boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials, who reported an annual household income of US$150,000 or more. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were used to provide the empirical findings.

Findings suggest that there are significant differences in the luxury brands they owned the most; Millennials exhibited significantly more frequent purchases of luxury fashion goods for all retail types – both brick-and-mortar and online, as well as upscale and discount-image retailers, compared to older Baby Boomers; and there are clear distinctions of cognitive, affective and behavioral responses toward fashion luxury goods between Millennials and older Baby Boomers. For instance, Millennials are more emotionally attached to luxury fashion brands, they see themselves more aligned with the brand image, and they collect such goods significantly more, compared to the older Baby Boomers.

By providing empirical evidence of contrasting each generational group’s unique consumption behavior in terms of luxury brand goods such as ownership level (accessible vs high-end luxury), retail channel choice behavior, cognitive, affective and behavioral responses toward the luxury fashion goods, the authors provided clear strategies for the luxury brand managers regarding two distinctive segments in the luxury marketplace.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the realistic trade-offs young consumers make when evaluating luxury co-branding combinations based on signalling theory.

Conjoint analysis was employed to evaluate the relative impact of four major attributes (i.e. brand combinations, retail channels, uniqueness and price) on consumer desirability for luxury co-branding combinations. The data were analysed using desirability indices.

Brand combinations, uniqueness and price significantly impact consumer desirability of luxury co-branding combinations. The luxury brand and sportswear combination results in the highest desirability when price is more similar to the sportswear constituent and participants perceive that the collaboration as exclusive.

The results suggest that luxury brands need to consider the partnering brand's retail format primarily for co-branding strategy. Luxury brand collaborations with sportswear and premium priced streetwear brands are more likely to result in higher desirability among consumers compared to collaborations with fast fashion and mass-market brands. Additionally, uniqueness may not be effective as a point of differentiation in cases where luxury brands cannot guarantee a single yearly collaboration.

The decision to use existing brands for the fictitious combinations developed more sensible scenarios for respondents. In addition, rather than discrete questions, attribute-based combinations provide a more realistic depiction of consumers' decision making on luxury co-branding. Finally, the results provide marketing practitioners with practical directions for future development of fashion luxury co-branding strategy.

Entrepreneurship, venture creation and business management.

The case is suitable for analysis in an undergraduates program specializing in entrepreneurship, business and management. The case could also be discussed in an executive development program on business ventures/business strategy/business management.

Since its inception in 1981, Abdul Rahim Al Fahim, CEO Paris Gallery decided that Paris Gallery would foray into French perfumes. At that time, he would have never thought that such a move would ever make him more than a shopkeeper. Now in 2016, Mr Abdul Rahim Al-Fahim has much to be pleased about the success that his organization Paris Gallery (Luxury stores in Dubai) has been able to achieve. He has been twice named as the Arab World’s most powerful retail sector entrepreneur. Certainly, it was his good fortune to be based in the great city, and his business venture has paralleled the exponential success of Dubai. As the concept of grand malls developed and flourished in UAE, Paris Gallery stores emerged and also prospered. Currently, Paris Gallery has 80 stores in the finest locations of the Middle East. This encourages family business owners in UAE to have ambitions for success and growth of their enterprises. This is especially true in a developing region that has rarely hosted such a high-end homegrown success story as Paris Gallery. The study of strategic positioning of Paris Gallery with a workforce of 4,000 employees and representing more than 550 international brands today shall help us in weighing the options of how businesses should proceed strategically.

The following insights could be elucidated by the case: familiarizing students with the business challenges in the retail industry in emerging markets such as the United Arab Emirates, and exploring future strategy options from the business growth perspective.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This paper’s objective is to raise awareness of how customer experience (CX) research, a key construct of modern-day service research, needs to be revisited in view of the pandemic. Particularly, we examine whether CX-related service research constructs, models and frameworks need to be reevaluated during and after the Corona crisis and if so, how and why? Moreover, this paper contributes to CX research by analyzing the customer mindset from three perspectives: emotions, employment and expectations (EEE).

We critically review current CX practices and investigate the impact on how customers perceive services in this time of crisis.

Based on this critical analysis, we discuss implications for research and practice with reference to the example of the luxury industry with its historical emphasis on the CX. This discussion leads to related propositions and research directions through Corona and beyond.

We investigate the current customer mindset in more detail, which we divide into three main themes: emotions, employment and expectations (EEE).

In today's world, retailers must embrace technological devices to provide fluid, convenient and complete customer experiences. Therefore, combining the offline and online spaces into a single strategy becomes essential, representing a significant opportunity for retailers to improve customer experience. Therefore, this study aims to explore and compare the importance of digital elements in an omnichannel experience by companies in the luxury and non-luxury segments.

The research offers a model to explore and compare the omnichannel strategies that brands use, considering six dimensions that cover recent technological advances, thus offering a complete experience to their customers. A multiple case study was selected based on a sample of six international companies from two different price segments (luxury and non-luxury).

The data collected allowed the authors to verify the presence of some dimensions, even though some had little evidence. Nevertheless, the dimensions connectivity, innovativeness and flexibility (only in luxury segment companies) were not present. Overall, and even though they present just little evidence, the results showed that retailers for the luxury segment invest more in delivering digital experiences within omnichannel strategies than the non-luxury ones.

This study improves the existing knowledge of omnichannel retailing. By analysing and comparing the omnichannel experiences, companies can identify areas for improvement and enhance the overall customer journey. Additionally, the model allows managers to compare and re-evaluate their omnichannel strategies with other competitors to gain competitiveness in an ever-evolving market.

This paper aims to contribute to this special issue on interpretivist research methodologies and the phygital consumerist landscape by exploring some underlying issues within the specific context of luxury consumption. The paper starts with a critique of current research, drawing particular attention to problems of reductionism, poor representativeness and weak contextualisation in research that adopts a positivist epistemology. The paper then highlights some of the contributions that interpretivist scholarship is making, and can potentially make, to our understanding of the experiential and humanistic aspects of luxury consumption, presented in a nuanced, discursive and deeply contextualised manner.

This commentary is informed by an in-depth examination of the methodology and approach adopted in the 327 most-recently published academic articles on luxury (from late-2021).

This opinion piece suggests the need for a sea-change in the way that scholars approach luxury research in online, offline and hybrid phygital settings to capture and convey its true complexity, diversity, contingency and contextuality and its emotional and symbolic character, and to help ensure that it delivers findings that are of relevance and value to luxury industry practitioners.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to look comprehensively and critically at the methodological approaches adopted by academics writing in the field of luxury consumption.