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Retailers face a multitude of strategic choices, with varying levels of risk, profitability and societal impact. Sifting through these options is a daunting task. In the literature, strategies have been successfully categorized using grids and matrices. Reviews first the strategy matrix approach, especially as applied to retailing; then introduces a topology of strategic choice in retailing which provides a way to assist retailers to think and manage strategically. The topology configures strategies into four directions: internal, horizontal, vertical and migrational. Internal strategies reside at the intraorganizational level and encompass various differentiation and time strategies. Horizontal strategies are expansionary and include choices on outlet numbers, internationalization, mergers and joint ventures. Vertical strategies turn the firm towards its suppliers and include supplier acquisition and improved buyer‐supplier relations. Migrational strategies are extraterritorial and involve radical changes of direction such as changes in outlet size category, location type and outlet type. Recognizing the synergistic interactions within and between the strategic directions is an important aspect of the analysis.

This paper aims to describe and understand the offer of premium private labels (PPLs) in Italy, with a case study on the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

The empirical study on EVOO in Italy was aimed to investigate the drivers of the offer of PPLs and its effects on assortment policies. The study was carried out in three Italian provinces, using a cross-sectional design with data collected through direct observation. A two-step data analysis was performed. First, descriptive statistics were used to preliminary appraise hypotheses on the rationale underlying the offer of PPL, and then, the drivers of PPL policy were studied using a logistic regression model.

The estimated model indicates that in the case of EVOO the probability of offering a PPL is higher for stronger with a stronger competitive position (with respect to other stores), and increases with the size of the category assortment (Total Assortment Width) and with the share of the PL products offered by the store (PL Assortment Index). It also increases if the average price (Total Average Price) and the average price of the standard private label (SPL Average Price) improve; by contrast, it decreases if the national brand (NB) share in the assortment (NB Assortment Index) augments.

Overall, the study confirms that the multi-tiered PL strategy is one of the current competitive strategies of top retailers, centred more on a differentiation than on a low cost/price policy. Such a differentiation policy may have various effects in terms of channel structure and social welfare depending on the underlying corporate and consumer goals and beliefs and on the existing institutional framework.

This is the first study to investigate the PPL market in Italy using original data and taking into account policies actually carried out at the individual store level. A further element of novelty is the attention given to the welfare effects of multi-tier strategies. This paper suggests that these latter may have various effects in terms of channel structure and social welfare depending on the underlying corporate and consumer goals and beliefs and on the existing institutional framework.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of differences in service quality assessments across distinct retail store formats. We address customers’ quality assessments for physical aspects, personal interactions, reliability and policies dimensions in hypermarkets and supermarkets to analyse the impacts for satisfaction and loyalty.

The study builds on previous scales for service retail quality to develop a survey addressing customers of hypermarkets and supermarkets in Portugal. Data analysis addressed 248 complete questionnaires and involved statistical testing to explore differences in service quality expectations across retail store formats. The regression analysis was used to estimate impacts of each service quality dimension for customer satisfaction and loyalty intentions.

The results support the existence of differences in customers’ service quality assessments across retail store formats, notably for the expectations about different quality dimensions. Differences were also observed on the impacts for customer satisfaction and loyalty, in particular for the dimensions of reliability and personal interaction.

The results suggest that managerial decisions regarding service in stores should be adjusted to the characteristics of each retail format. The generalizability of the results should be assessed by means of further investigation in other retail contexts.

Retail customers patronize multiple types of retail stores that compete on diverse service attributes. Building on existing service measurement scales, this paper provides a contribution to understand customer’s quality assessments across distinct store types to inform retail quality and service differentiation strategies.

This research paper explores customer experience (CX) among low-literate customers in organized retail environments. It integrates theories from customer literacy, CX and patronage literature to understand CX comprehensively.

The study gathered data from 470 respondents using mall intercept and snowball sampling. Data analysis employed partial least squares (PLS) modeling.

The results indicate that all the dimensions do not have the same effect on CX. Answering calls for future research, the results establish CX's nomological validity by showing its positive influence on retail reputation, retail quality and satisfaction. However, it does not directly affect patronage but has an indirect influence through retail quality and satisfaction. Also, the authors conclude that retail quality and satisfaction are consequences of CX and not previously conceptualized proxies for it.

Conducting primary research with low-literate customers (LLCs) has its own set of limitations that give rise to further research directions. While acknowledging limitations, the study suggests avenues for future research by surveying LLCs with an objective questionnaire, contributing to limited empirical research in this segment.

The findings highlight the multidimensional nature of CX. In summary, this research paper provides insights into CX dimensions and outcomes for LLCs in organized retail. It contributes to marketing literature, assisting retailers in improving CX and driving patronage across customer segments.

The paper contributes to marketing literature by studying LLCs, testing a comprehensive CX model, confirming antecedents in retail patronage and exploring reciprocal relationships in retailing.

The authors present an exploratory study on the effectiveness of in-store marketing communication appeals via digital signage applying the construal level theory (CLT) in a field experiment. According to this theory, the authors hypothesize that shoppers will on the one hand respond more favorably to messages focusing on the desirability of the offering, when they are further distanced from the actual purchase decision. On the other hand, the authors expect more favorable responses toward messages containing feasibility appeals, positioned closer by to the purchase decision. The purpose of this paper is to determine appropriate location-based content for in-store proximity marketing.

A field experiment was conducted in a Belgian coffee bar, examining temporal distance effects in a natural retail/service environment. A 2×2 between-subjects experimental design is implemented (i.e. low vs high temporal distance×concrete/cost vs abstract/brand-oriented appeal), examining the impact on marketing communication effectiveness.

Overall, the authors find some initial support for CLT on effectiveness measures regarding purchase intentions and actual purchase, but not in terms of self-reported noticing of the screen and the ad, nor in terms of (un)aided ad recall.

This experiment is a pilot study and such finds itself confronted with a limited number of observations.

The study is among the first to examine how message content (beyond price promotion) can be adapted to in-store locations.

The purpose of this paper is to decompose total customer value as perceived by department store shoppers into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions, and empirically test this conceptualization in a Finnish department store shopping context.

Data were collected by a questionnaire administered over three days at a department store that generates the second largest turnover in Finland. A total of 364 shoppers completed the questionnaire.

Empirical evidence supports our tripartite conceptualization of total customer value. In particular, social value is an independent construct. Further, social value varies by day‐of‐week, with a significant increase on Saturday (versus weekdays) when the store is more crowded, whereas no such differences in utilitarian and hedonic values were detected.

The principal contribution is a tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. Individually these dimensions are all well rooted in streams of consumer behavior literature, albeit mostly at the product or brand, not the store, level. Increasing our understanding of these softer aspects of shopping, particularly the social dimension, is important because they represent possible differentiating factors in the highly competitive and often commoditized retail markets.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main determinants of fashion store personality, as perceived by the shopper. It aims to discover factors that are responsible for specific store personality trait perceptions in order to understand how these humanlike personality traits are induced in a retailing context.

With this end in mind, a qualitative exploratory study was undertaken. A total of 70 in‐depth semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of Belgian adult respondents to systematically assess the connotations of the 34 different store personality trait descriptors put forward by d'Astous and Lévesque. Respondents were asked which fashion stores they considered to embody these specific personality traits and they were probed for the sources of inference they used.

The findings reveal that the store environment and store design particularly is an important factor in determining the personality of fashion stores. Also, other factors such as corporate social responsibility, reputation, service level, the salespeople, the merchandise sold, price/quality perceptions and the consumer base determine perceptions of “genuineness”, “solidity”, “sophistication”, “enthusiasm” and “unpleasantness”.

A better understanding of the determinants of fashion store personality is essential for retail managers who wish to (re)position their stores. Retailers and store designers should be aware of the important role of “atmospherics” in this regard.

Apart from conceptual work, no empirical research has yet systematically investigated determinants of each of the main store personality dimensions.

Investigates the relationship between competitive strategies and business performance in the retailing industry and provides an empirical investigation of strategic approaches to competitive success adopted by various groups of retailers. In the past, examinations of this relationship have focused on samples from the industrial sector and have not investigated samples in the retail sector. Findings indicate that, both in terms of financial performance and operating performance, the group of retailers employing a combination of low‐cost/ differentiation strategy to attain competitive advantage outperform those using a singular strategic approach.

Drawing on the resource-based view, this study aims to investigate the conditions under which small- and medium-sized retailers can improve competitive benefits through the lens of brand equity and strategies for competitive advantage in retail buying groups.

This study collected 241 samples from small- and medium-sized supermarket retailers who joined retail buying groups in Japan.

This study offers two key findings. First, the results indicate that a buying group’s brand equity partially mediates the relationship between member retailers’ strategic integration and their buying group benefits. Second, member retailers with a stronger differentiation orientation strengthen the positive impact of strategic integration on the buying group’s brand equity and buying group benefits. The moderating effects of low-cost orientation were not found to be significant.

To highlight the sustainable growth of small- and medium-sized retailers in retail buying groups, which are often ignored in the extant literature, this study offers practical guidance on the importance of a buying group’s brand equity. In addition, based on the findings, this paper postulates that member retailers pursuing differentiation orientation, rather than low-cost orientation, are more beneficial to retail buying groups in terms of relational outcomes and performance consequences.

By conceptualizing brand equity in retail buying groups, this study suggests a novel approach for retail management that investigates how a buying group’s brand equity is linked to strategic integration, strategies for competitive advantage and buying group benefits from the viewpoint of member retailers.