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The paper seeks to review dynamic forms of rural retailing, by location, that have innovated through a mixture of actions leading to growth, adaptation, diversification and differentiation.

Reviews relevant academic literature and draws upon contemporary policy‐related material that details recent innovation within the sector. A rural retail typology by location is presented: retailing within market towns, village shops and stand‐alone retailing forms (farm shops and speciality rural retail outlets).

Since, the nature together with form of what characterises dynamic and innovative rural retailing differs by location, the typology is based on the above schema. First, market towns have used growth and differentiation opportunities as strategic foci. Second, innovative village shops have applied strategies that seek to counter their structural weaknesses, harness the community and yield new revenue streams. Third, the manner in which stand‐alone retailing forms, such as farm shops together with speciality rural retail outlets, have grown and developed is reviewed.

Reviewing dynamic forms of rural retailing allows for a greater understanding of the operational needs for success. A lack of relevant research is cited together with examples.

Stereotyping rural retailing is erroneous since marginalised enterprises are juxtaposed against more innovative forms. Contrary to perceptions of rural decline, the sector is multi‐faceted with prospering sub‐sectors. The paper focuses on these more dynamic and innovative forms of rural retailing. Much of the previous focus in this sector has been on negative issues and decline. A synthesis of the key contributory phenomena is presented.

Since the reforms in China after 1979, great changes have taken place in the retailing sector, although from the Western point of view it still remains underdeveloped. There is little literature devoted to retailing in China, and an introduction is given here to the retailing sector and the retailing reforms that have occurred during the last decade. The study also provides evidence of some trends which probably will arouse researchers and foreign investors to explore this untapped area.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of readiness of the Indian retailing sector for the implementation of mobile retailing applications. It also identifies the most critical success factors (CSFs) for mobile retailing implementation through retailing process reengineering (RPR) framework.

This paper attempts to identify a few CSFs through questionnaire survey and interview, subsequently establishing the inter-factor relationships through interpretive structural modeling framework and computing the priority weights of the interrelated factors using analytic network process. Finally, the authors compute the retailers’ RPR implementation readiness indices for mobile retailing using Multi-Level data envelopment analysis methodology.

The 11 CSFs have been identified. Out of these, two factors namely Strategic Alignment and Management Control and Quality Contribute profoundly for mobile retailing implementation. Finally, a readiness index has been computed for implementation of mobile retailing in the selected retail outlets through RPR framework.

Only a few selected large retail outlets have been considered in this study and the sample size was modest. This study only revolves around the Indian retail sector.

This study can be used as a decision support system for mobile retailing implementation in Indian retail sector. Moreover, based on the results of this study, a few retail outlets are completely ready for mobile retailing implementation. Apart from them, the other retail outlets can improve their readiness index by emphasizing on performance scores of the CSFs.

Due to the scanty literature on mobile retailing, this study contributes to the mobile retailing body of literature in three ways: first, identification of CSFs in mobile retailing; second, interrelationship among the factors; and third, proposes a rational framework to compute retail outlets’ readiness indices for the implementation of mobile retailing through RPR framework.

The retail sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. Increase in per capita income, growing urbanization, and economic reforms are some key factors that have propelled its growth. The growing Indian market has attracted many foreign retailers and Indian corporates to invest in this sector. However, this is one of the few sectors in which there is a restriction on foreign direct investment. The sector is politically sensitive, and the Indian government is trying to formulate an appropriate policy regime.

In this context, based on a primary survey, this chapter tries to analyze what should be the right policy regime that will help to sustain the growth of retail in India. The chapter shows that due to the quasi-federal nature of governance, the retail sector is regulated by a large number of ministries/departments at the centre state and local level, which leads to multiple regulations and the requirement of multiple clearances. The laws relating to this sector are outdated and their definitions and enforcement varies across different states of India. Lack of supporting infrastructure, high real estate costs and low purchasing power of consumers are some other barriers. To sustain the growth of this sector, there is an urgent need for regulatory, fiscal, and other reforms. Precisely, the clearances process needs to be streamlined and outdated regulations should be amended. To encourage investment in the supply chain and inflow of technical know-how and skills the government should allow FDI in multibrand retail. However, since retail is a sensitive sector, India cannot take an international commitment on liberalization of retail before streamlining the domestic policy regime.

The online retail industry is enormous, covering a great assortment of products and services. Yet, little research has examined whether determinants of success in online retailing are similar or differ by industry sector. The purpose of this study is to examine industry sectors separately to distinguish drivers associated with overall satisfaction for the online consumers in those sectors.

The paper uses ridge regression to examine how e‐service quality dimensions are associated with overall customer satisfaction for several e‐retailing sectors.

While several e‐service quality dimensions exhibit a similar impact across all sectors, several other dimensions exhibited sector‐by‐sector differences. The drivers that frequently differ across sectors include price perceptions, ease of returns and refunds, and privacy experience.

As an exploratory study, research opportunities and limitations derive from the public source of data, sample sizes within some of the sectors, and the ridge regression methodology.

Related prior research examined individual e‐retailing sectors, leading to scattered sets of findings that cannot be triangulated. The research allows for comparison by the manager, and presents empirical insights for managers in several e‐retail sectors.

This paper is one of only a few studies to examine a consistent set of e‐service quality measures on a sector‐by‐sector basis. The paper is also unique in that it uses publicly available data sources to examine these relationships, providing managers with insights on how they might analyze such public data sets for their own usage.

The structure of the UK food manufacturing industry is highly fragmented and consists of some 5,000 firms. Of these, however, the ten largest companies are estimated to account for one‐third of all sales. The importance of the 100 largest private sector firms has traditionally been relatively high within the industry and in 1975, for example, they produced 55 per cent of the food sector's net output, compared with the 40 per cent provided by a similar sample in the total manufacturing sector. Similarly, evidence from both Ashby and Mordue demonstrates that during the 1970s the average size of food manufacturers/processors overtook that of manufacturers as a whole in terms of numbers employed. By the same measure, businesses with more than one hundred employees continued to expand at a faster rate in food than the average for all manufacturers, so that the mean employment size of these larger food enterprises in the late 1970s was more than one‐third greater than in all manufacturing. Smaller establishments, by contrast, are relatively under‐represented in the UK food, drink and tobacco sector, both in comparison with the average for all manufacturers and internationally.

The purpose of this research is to try to show the relevance of service quality in building a strong retail brand. It addresses how retailer attributes affect customer‐based retail brand equity, when considering retailers as brands. These attributes are compared with one another, and the importance of service is set in proportion to the other retailer attributes, both intersectorally and sector‐specifically. An integrated model is used here.

This is an empirical study across five retail sectors (grocery, textiles, DIY, consumer electronics and furniture retailing) based on a survey with 2,000 face‐to‐face interviews. Structural equation modelling is used to illustrate the impact of central dimensions of the perception of retailer service and of the other retailer attributes on customer‐based retail brand equity.

In retailing, service quality appears to be the most important retailer attribute in building a strong retail brand – as demonstrated in four out of five sectors. The integrated model developed in this study can make a significant contribution to a field of knowledge which at present is not well developed.

A more detailed analysis of the cross‐sectoral differences is undoubtedly necessary. Furthermore, a more exact analysis of retailer service is certainly required, but it must also incorporate other retailer attributes in order to achieve dimensions of comparison.

The importance of service in retailing is intersectorally underlined in comparison to the other retailer attributes/retail marketing instruments. Even in sectors that characteristically use self‐service, the importance of service quality and particularly of friendly and competent staff is evident. Compared to the other retailer attributes, service is one strategic element that can be used effectively by retailers of almost any size. A small or medium sized retailer usually cannot distinguish itself from its competitors by means of price, but with a service‐oriented business.

Unlike other investigations, a model is applied in this paper to five retail sectors, so both general and also sector‐specific conclusions can be drawn on the importance of customer service and the other retailer attributes. Furthermore, customer service is not analysed in isolation, thus we have dimensions of comparison, unlike many other authors who look at service alone.

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.

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) and digitisation offer substantial human potential and profit margins, making them promising retail solutions. Retail leaders have successfully integrated comprehensive uses into their daily operations, while competitors heavily invest in new projects. The Indian retail sector is undergoing a significant transformation, which can be attributed to factors such as growing income, demographic characteristics, and enhanced consumerism, as well as the rapid development of new technologies such as digitisation and AI, which is changing both consumers’ and retailers’ buying behaviour.

Purpose: This study aims to determine the influence of AI on elements that drive digitisation in the retailing sector, as well as the factors that lead to organised retailers adopting digitisation and its impact on their business.

Methodology: The study employs a standardised questionnaire distributed to organised stores via an online link, and the data are analysed with SmartPLS software 3.0.

Finding: The retail sector is driven by elements that promote digitalisation in food and groceries retailing, such as simplicity of operation, adoption of digital payment, quicker internet connection, retailer consumer interface, and the involvement of AI.

Research implication: AI has significant consequences for retailing, which serves as the interface between marketers and customers.

Theoretical implication: The study’s findings reflect the perspectives of retailers, store managers, and entrepreneurs on how digitalisation and AI are crucial for the creation and growth of long-term competitive advantages in retail.

This study aims to examine the evolution of category killers or big‐box retailers over a 17‐year time span and the impact that this retail format has had on seven retail sectors, sales revenue, and per capita retail consumption in the USA.

Sales revenue, average store size and per capita income were examined over a 17‐year period – 1988‐2004 – for the book, sporting goods, home center, electronic, toy, home furnishings and the grocery sector (warehouse stores) to determine the effect of large retail formats on sales revenue and per capita spending.

This longitudinal study demonstrates that evolving to big‐box formats had a positive impact on both sales revenue and per capita spending in each of the retail sectors.

It is a starting‐point for fully understanding the impact of large retail formats on the retail industry.

The evolution of large format retailers has not been studied from a macro view. Most studies have focused on their impact on small markets. This study focuses on the overall trend and examines their impact on the industry and per capita spending.