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The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a soft facility practice in the organized retail sector. In specifics, it draws context from a security practice and assesses its effect on customers’ satisfaction and patronage in retail properties.

The research method is quantitative. The study used a survey research design with the use of a structured questionnaire for data collection. The data were collected from the head of households who purchase items in the retail shops. It applied a logistic regression model to estimate customers’ satisfaction and the effect of the current security practice on patronage.

Contrary to expectation, descriptive analysis of data shows that respondents were satisfied with the security procedure with weighted means scores (3.62, 3.74, 3.78 and 3.66) above average for bag check at exits, reconciliation of receipts with purchase, the attitude of security personnel during exit checks and time taken during exit checks. With specific reference to bag checks at the exit, logit shows that 32% were neutral while 8% were dissatisfied with the security practice. Among the dissatisfied, logit shows an odds ratio of 0.059, which implies that they are likely to verbally express their dissatisfaction with the shop. On the other hand, the chances that they would not do this are more likely with an odds ratio of 162818201.343. Further, continuous patronage (Loyalty) is strongly less likely with an odds ratio of 1.250E-22. This was corroborated by a similar odd ratio of 4.068E-11 estimated for those that would take the exit option due to the bag’s check.

The limitation of this study is that samples were randomly drawn from an unknown population of customers. However, the study was guided by Cochran (1963) to select a valid representative sample and support the reliability of the research findings.

The findings on satisfaction imply that the convenience and swiftness associated with shopping in a retail shop had been eroded by the current security facility practices which may lead to a reduction in the growth and retail sector turnover. While many dissatisfied customers would have exited if there are alternative shops with more customer-friendly security practices, the limited number of organized retail shops in the study area will prevent this from happening.

Literature on the management of facilities in real estate is quite vast; however, not much attention has been paid to the management of security in the retail sector particularly in Nigeria. This study is, therefore, novel, as it provides seminal evidence on this important topic and will serve as a reference for further research in Nigeria.

In 2022, US financial regulators proposed to mandate a single central clearing mechanism for treasury bonds and repo transactions to stabilize financial markets. The systemic risks inherent in repo markets were first highlighted by the global financial crisis and, as a response, global financial authorities such as the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have advocated for the introduction of a central counterparty (CCP). This study examines the structural characteristics of Korean repo markets and proposes the introduction of CCPs as a way to mitigate systemic risk. To this end, the author analyzes the structural differences between US and European repo markets and estimates the potential consequences of introducing CCP clearing in local repo markets. In general, CCPs offer two benefits: they can reduce required capital through netting in multilateral transactions, and they can mitigate the effects of risk transfer by isolating counterparty risk during periods of turbulence. In Korea, the latter effect is expected to play a pivotal role in mitigating potential risks.

COVID-19 disrupted the lives of consumers across the globe, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest hits. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers' retail choice behaviour and retailers' responses has been studied in detail through multiple lenses. Now that the effect of COVID-19 is abating, there is a need to consolidate the learnings during the lifecycle of COVID-19 and set the agenda for research post-COVID-19.

Scopus database was searched to cull out academic papers published between March 2020 and June 6, 2022, using keywords; shopping behaviour, retailing, consumer behaviour, and retail channel choice along with COVID-19 (171 journals, 357 articles). Bibliometric analysis followed by selective content analysis was conducted.

COVID-19 was a black swan event that impacted consumers' psychology, leading to reversible and irreversible changes in retail consumer behaviour worldwide. Research on changes in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns has been mapped to the different stages of the COVID-19 lifecycle. Relevant research questions and potential theoretical lenses have been proposed for further studies.

This paper collates, classifies and organizes the extant research in retail from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies three retail consumption themes: short-term, long-term reversible and long-term irreversible changes. Research agenda related to the retailer and consumer behaviour is identified; for each of the three categories, facilitating the extraction of pertinent research questions for post-COVID-19 studies.

This study investigates whether and how the service quality of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots affects customer loyalty to an organization.

Based on the sequential chain model of service quality loyalty, this study first classifies AI chatbot service quality into nine attributes and then develops a research model to explore the internal mechanism of how AI chatbot service quality affects customer loyalty. The analysis of survey data from 459 respondents provided insights into the interrelationships among AI chatbot service quality attributes, perceived value, cognitive and affective trust, satisfaction and customer loyalty.

The results show that AI chatbot service quality positively affects customer loyalty through perceived value, cognitive trust, affective trust and satisfaction.

This study captures the attributes of the service quality of AI chatbots and reveals the significant influence of service quality on customer loyalty. This study develops research on service quality in the information system (IS) field and extends the sequential chain model of quality loyalty to the context of AI services. The findings not only help an organization find a way to improve customers' perceived value, trust, satisfaction and loyalty but also provide guidance in the development, adoption, and post-adoption stages of AI chatbots.

Innovation ecosystems (IEs) have attracted the attention of policymakers and researchers because of their potential to positively affect territories, creating shared value. However, due to the fragmentation of IEs, how this happens in different IEs has been explored only partially. This research aims to bridge this gap, aiming to support policymakers in understanding how to foster shared value in diverse IEs.

The paper identifies, based on the literature, two “drivers of aggregation” of IE's actors as key dimensions characterizing shared value in IEs, namely physical proximity and dominant issue. If these are combined, three archetypes emerge: Hub- and Chain-Driven, Place-Driven, Competence- and Issue-Driven IEs.Then, elements useful for understanding shared value creation in these archetypes are framed and studied in real cases.

Results reveal that aggregation drivers affect shared value creation, which differ among archetypes: in Competence- and Issue-Driven IEs alignment is challenged by the low physical proximity, which in Place-Driven IEs is high, but not enough to grant shared value; in Hub- and Chain-Driven IEs, the hub is the orchestrator, representing both a driver and a risk.

Differences in shared value creation processes relate to the set-up of the IE, which has relevant implications for policy definition. In Competence- and Issue-Driven IEs, policies at diverse levels align in funding and promoting the IE; in Place-Driven IEs, policies support anchors' development on-site; in Hub- and Chain-Driven IEs, policies, sometimes absent, should foster partnerships for projects for the territory, IE's enlargement and resilience.

This paper aims to draw on the Dynamic Capabilities View to discuss how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use digital technologies to develop digital capabilities that will enable them to change their current business model and trajectory, that is, to pivot-within turbulent environments, and subsequently to survive and grow.

The authors collected and analysed qualitative data from 26 SMEs in South-East England that have used digital technologies to pivot during the pandemic. The data was collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews. The authors analysed the data by creating first-order concepts, second-order themes, and aggregating dimensions.

The findings suggest that (1) digital technologies enable pivoting by facilitating the creation of the following digital capability types: “digital sensing”, “digital seizing” and “digital transforming”; (2) Each of these digital capability types is underpinned by micro-foundations (sub-capabilities) and shaped by the digital culture of the organisation. (3) these capabilities are triggered by the turbulent environment and the existing digital technologies, and are shaped by the digital culture.

The authors contribute to the literature of digital entrepreneurship as the authors illustrate (1) how the micro-foundations of digital capabilities, as facilitated by digital technologies, assist pivoting; and (2) the process from key activities during pivoting to second-order themes that represent micro-foundations to digital (dynamic) capabilities for pivoting in turbulent environments. The study highlights the importance of digital pivoting for businesses in the UK Southeast that have many aspirations for growth and innovation, whilst striving to address multiple challenges including digital divide and literacy, inflation and cost of living crisis, as well as supply chain issues.

The study’s objective is to measure the importance consumers attach to AI-based attributes, namely, chatbots, face recognition, virtual fitting room, smart parking and cashier-free station in retail stores. The study also examines the specific purpose of using these attributes for shopping.

A conjoint experiment was conducted using fractional factorial design. Consumers were given 14 profiles (AI attributes and its levels) to rank according to their visiting preferences.

The results revealed that the retail chatbot was considered the most important attribute, followed by face recognition, virtual fitting room, smart parking system and cashier-free station. Moreover, consumers prefer to use chatbots for in-store shopping assistance over alerts and updates, customer support and feedback. Similarly, consumers wish a face recognition facility for greetings while entering the store over other services. In addition, cluster analyses revealed that customer groups significantly differ in their preferences for AI-based attributes.

The study guides retail managers to invest in AI technologies to provide consumers with a technology-oriented shopping experience.

Our results provide an insight into the receptivity of AI technologies that consumers would like to experience in their favorite retail stores. The present study contributes to the literature by investigating consumer preferences for various AI technologies and their specific uses for shopping.

This paper aims to measure the trade price impact of a recent regulatory disclosure intervention in municipal securities secondary markets, which required broker-dealers to disclose securities trading information on a near-real-time and continuing basis.

The author analyzes trade price outcomes in the preintervention and postintervention regimes using a suite of time series estimations that give heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors (Prais–Winsten and Cochrain–Orcutt), accommodate higher-order lag structure in the error term (autoregressive integrated moving average) and account for volatility clustering in the time series (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity).

Results show that regulatory disclosure intervention significantly improved trade price efficiency in municipal securities secondary markets as daily trade price differential and volatility both declined market-wide after the disclosure intervention.

The sample consists of trades in State of California general obligation bonds; therefore, empirical findings may not be generalizable to other states, local governments and different types of bonds.

The findings highlight voluntary information disclosure as a practical and effective mechanism in disclosure regulation of municipal securities secondary markets.

Only a small body of work exists that examines information disclosure regulation in municipal securities secondary markets; therefore, this paper expands knowledge on the topic and should provide renewed impetus for regulatory efforts aimed at improving the efficiency of municipal capital markets.

This research aims to propose the development of a model that identifies, in essential services, the determining factors affecting the technological advances offered by different smart technologies in supermarket retail channels that influence citizens' quality of life, amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The data were collected using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey (n = 469). The authors applied the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to test the hypotheses, along with the partial least squares (PLS) method for estimating latent variables and combining with the necessary condition analysis (NCA) method.

According to the results of the NCA method, the results were adequate, and more attention should be paid to the quality of life construct after finding the bottleneck point of 50%. In this sense, adaptive resilience was characterized as the main necessary predictor construct for quality of life. In addition, Generation Z and Millennials have the highest frequency of use in all smart technologies, with “assisted purchase” being the most widely used.

Finally, the effect of the pandemic changed the consumption routine with supermarkets, not being a mere option but a necessity in the context of a smart city.

As a result, the proposed model was consistent, showing that all direct and indirect SEM paths were validated, highlighting data security and privacy and resilience issues. In addition, the NCA method complemented the procedures performed in the SEM phase.

This study aims to identify the factors that influence the willingness of Bangladeshi retail investors to invest in ṣukūk.

The authors surveyed Bangladeshi retail investors using a structured questionnaire to understand their perspectives on potential investment in ṣukūk. The authors considered the behavioral aspects of retail investors and the desired ṣukūk features to analyze the demand side. Factors and regression analyses were performed to identify the persuading factors.

The results indicate that investor awareness is a fundamental factor in potential investments in ṣukūk. Investors perceive the security represented by government and third-party guarantees as a persuasive feature of ṣukūk. The tradability and tenor of ṣukūk also affect the investment intention. Sharīʿah consciousness of the investors also plays a significant role in their investment decisions.

One limitation of this study is that it incorporates potential individual investors only, and precludes institutional investors. In the future, there is scope for research to explore the demand factors impacting institutional investors of ṣukūk in Bangladesh.

The authors expect that the study will aid policymakers and ṣukūk issuers in crafting strategies to cater to the needs of Bangladeshi retail investors.

This study is the earliest research conducted in Bangladesh to determine the factors impacting the willingness of individual investors to make their potential investments in ṣukūk. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has analyzed the desired ṣukūk features from the perspective of Bangladeshi retail investors.