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This study analyses direct effects of risk-related factors on perceived quality for private labels.

A total of 159 usable data was collected through survey, using mall intercept method in one regional retail chain in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The results confirm that the perceived risk has a significant and negative impact on consumers’ perceptions of the quality of private labels, and that the financial risk, performance risk, and physical risk are significant determinants of overall perceived risk, thus indirectly influencing the perception of the quality of these brands.

This chapter shows that the perceived quality of private labels is significantly determined by the perceived risk to which consumers are exposed. The findings of this research can help retailers in terms of adequately defining marketing policies aimed at reducing the perceived risk that consumers are exposed to when purchasing their own brands.

This study examines the empirical relationship between four broad antecedents of brand equity (branding strategy, brand structure, brand positioning and target market) and two separate dimensions of revenue premium: price premium and volume premium. Our modeling framework aims to explain how different antecedents of brand equity influence the realized velocity and margin of branded product sales, key drivers of operating cash flow. Our generalizable empirical analyses are based on a representative dataset of over 6,500 brands, across 200 consumer-packaged goods categories, spanning three years. We find that only 20% of brands command revenue premiums, for which volume premiums are the critical determinant. Branding strategies and brand structure primarily impact volume premium. In contrast, brand positioning has little effect. Target market substantially affects both premiums. Overall, these four elements account for 73% and 69% of the explained variations in price and volume premiums, respectively. This study provides generalizable, important, and novel insights for the theory and practice of brand management regarding price positioning and extending brands into new categories.

This chapter focuses on French food retailers and sustainable development. The food retailing groups can be divided into three types of distributors: integrated groups (Carrefour, Casino, Auchan, and Cora), groups of independent stores (Leclerc, Intermarché, and System U), and hard discounters as (Lidl and Aldi). In addition, in the sphere of more sustainable distribution, there are also specialized retailers such as Biocoop, Naturalia, La Vie Claire, and direct channels. These channels offer an alternative to the dominant model of industrialized and standardized agriculture and supply symbolized by mass distribution. The evolution of the discourse on sustainable development from 2005 to strategies proposing local products, bio products, and private labels shows that mass retailers have understood that taking into account the collective interest of society can be a source of significant differentiation in a fiercely competitive market. A supplementary finding of this chapter is the major strategic role of private labels in the implementation of retailers’ sustainable development policy: improving products, rethinking packaging policy, and formulating advice for consumers.

Shopper marketing describes the planning and execution of all marketing activities that influence a shopper along – and beyond – the path-to-purchase, from shopping trigger to purchase, consumption, repurchase, and recommendation stages. Shopper marketing practices at manufacturers and retailers are growing at a tremendous pace and a rising portion of marketing budgets are now devoted to shopper marketing. The first phase of shopper marketing research and practice, Shopper Marketing 1.0, addressed interesting issues, primarily relating to in-store marketing. In the next phase, Shopper Marketing 2.0, will significantly extend to out-of-store marketing, including online and mobile marketing, resulting in an integrated practice. In this new environment, to formulate and execute effective shopper marketing strategies, managers need to better understand the complete picture of how online, offline, mobile and in-store marketing influence shoppers in the path-to-purchase-and-beyond cycle. In this chapter, we present the evolution of shopper marketing, summarize key learnings, outline important issues, and discuss the opportunities and challenges of Shopper Marketing 2.0.

This chapter explains the interrelationships between trade markets of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, which have experienced the same political, economical, and social changes due to their postwar market orientation. Particularly, the research is focused on the relationships between retailers and their suppliers, the effects of 2008 financial crisis, and changes in customer behavior on those markets.

The chapter builds upon the investigation of the existing literature on trade in selected Southeast European (SEE) countries targeting three time-periods: planned economy era; period after the launch of the economic transition; and the European Union (EU) accession preparation era. The supporting fieldwork is based on qualitative interviews with senior managers in trade companies operating on all investigated markets. Results are compared with other secondary data sources.

The research has contributed to the understanding of similarities and differences on three markets of former Yugoslavia: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Four areas are used as a framework for explaining the level of cooperation and interdependence between trade companies on investigated markets: changes in retail forms, growth in retail operations, increasing importance of the relationships with suppliers, and penetration of private labels.

Results of the study provides some directions for suppliers on the selected markets and for retailers as well. As retailers rely on their key suppliers, local suppliers should offer them elements of differentiation. On the other hand, results give an insight into actual situation on the markets of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia regarding retail structure, number of retail forms, private labels, etc.

Considering an extensive literature review, the analysis of data given in official statistical databases, as well as qualitative study among trade managers, these findings have important managerial implications for retailers and suppliers.

Over the last decade, retailers have shown an increasing interest in providing evidence of the sustainability of their activities. This is mainly due to the demands of policy and consumers as well as competition. Indeed, several retailers are making efforts to design and implement sustainable practices from a Triple Bottom Line approach (i.e., economic, social, and environmental sustainability). This chapter discusses the sustainable practices of leading Spanish top grocery and apparel retailers, focusing on those that may be considered as setting benchmarks in their respective sectors. A content analysis of annual report sections related to sustainability, independent sustainability reports, and information published by these main Spanish retailers, enables us to identify three main types of practices providing evidence of retailers’ sustainability. These are cross-industry sustainable practices, industry-dependent practices, and firm innovations. These practices may become guidance and inspiration for other retailers in these sectors, as well as in other product assortment.

German food retailers face a saturated market that is characterized by a high competition environment, dominated by four big retailers. Discounters represent the most important retailing format and German food retailing is often characterized as being “cheap and cheerless.” Retailers offer low-price environments for their customers, because Germans are among the most price sensitive and price-oriented consumers across the world; as a consequence, margins are extremely low. On the other hand, German consumers have the longest tradition worldwide of behaving ecologically and being societally friendly. Being “green,” caring about the ecological footprint, the impact of their own behavior on others, has been for decades the mainstream rather than the exceptional case in Germany. This all leads to all German retailers struggling with the “contradiction” of very price-oriented customers that expect retailers to be sustainable in all possible ways. This chapter discusses how German food retailers respond to these requirements. It presents retailers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies and activities with regard to the CSR domains of environment, non-domestic operations, product, community support, employee support, and diversity. While all major German retailers have established a high number of CSR activities among all six domains, they often focus on measures that not only improve their CSR image, but also lead to cost reduction by improving efficiency (e.g., reducing energy cost, streamlining supply chains, or improving logistics).

Retail marketing is in the midst of an evolution. The paradigm is shifting from a product-centric to a consumer-centric focus, with a particular emphasis on understanding how consumers transition from harboring an interest in a product to actually purchasing that product. In response, shopper marketing, and in-store marketing (ISM) in particular, have emerged as important mechanisms to influence shopper behavior in brick & mortar and online retail environments. The academic literature is replete with work on what factors of ISM influence shopper behavior. In this chapter, we categorize prominent streams of findings on ISM into firm, customer, competitor and product characteristics of ISM and examine how the notion of a “store” is evolving from bricks to clicks – namely from physical formats to online shopping experiences. Insights from this chapter will help retailers and store managers identify what their customers respond to within a physical store, how technology is changing the way they can capture information on customers, and how shopper behavior is evolving in response to brick & mortar and online retail environments.

The paper deals with the transformation of local agrofood systems, in the context of the turn to “the economy of qualities” and the rural development paradigm. We will discuss a case study from Italy, specifically an agreement between Slow Food and Coop Italia concerning the Ark of Taste's Presidia, aiming at the protection of typical products and food traditions.

The agreement is analysed as a change of strategy, implying a transformation of the local agrofood system from “local production for local consumers” to “local production for distant consumers”. The change is substantial and implies a restructuring of the entire local food network.