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Article
Publication date: 1 June 1987

Stephen Brown

Three basic approaches to retail institutional change can be discerned in the last 30 years. The first contends that institutional evolution is a function of developments in the…

4226

Abstract

Three basic approaches to retail institutional change can be discerned in the last 30 years. The first contends that institutional evolution is a function of developments in the socio‐economic environment. The second argues that change occurs in a cyclical fashion. The third considers inter‐institutional conflict to be the mainspring of retail change. None of those approaches is found to be entirely satisfactory, and a series of combination theories has been posited. It is argued that regional institutional change is the result of environmental forces and a cycle‐like sequence of inter‐institutional conflict.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 21 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1982

Ronald Savitt

One of the most serious problems faced by the multinational retailer is the estimation of the structure of retail markets in the many countries that he might want to enter. While…

Abstract

One of the most serious problems faced by the multinational retailer is the estimation of the structure of retail markets in the many countries that he might want to enter. While marketing scholars have developed methods for assessing market potentials and for evaluating economic and political conditions, they have not been as successful in solving the market entry problem as it relates to the development of retailing. There are a large number of models of retail change which can be applied to the process, however, they generally fall short of management desires. In the first place, these models are often based on hypotheses of retail change in the North American market. In the second place, many of the models have not been formally tested within that environment and few have been evaluated in the wider context. Finally, these models are not comparative and the use of them in comparative analysis would suffer from the absence of acceptable categories and data. One approach that might help the difficulties of market entry is to apply historical research methods to the problem of understanding change. These methods by their very nature embody the elements of comparative analysis and offer the added advantage of dealing with specific firms and events rather than concentrating on more aggregate categories. By focusing on specific retailers in a single country and across many countries the researcher can develop general propositions which are deductively arrived at in a systematic fashion rather than rely on chance observation of aggregate structure and behaviour. Historical research demands a new outlook and sensitivity in the observation of events and in the analysis of data. The skills required to undertake such research have direct benefits because they force the researcher clearly to define the elements of his study in a way not possible when statistical methods are employed. Will such research be the answer to all of the issues of multinational retailing? The answer is clearly no; however, it can help managers and marketing scholars better understand the process of change in the past. There is no certainty that the past will predict the future, but understanding the process of change might make the future more manageable; and, what better place is there to start than a historical perspective?

Details

Management Decision, vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2022

Sheng-Wei Lin, Eugenia Y. Huang and Kai-Teng Cheng

This study employed the commitment–trust theory in social psychology and relationship marketing to explore female customers' perception of channel integration quality in…

1307

Abstract

Purpose

This study employed the commitment–trust theory in social psychology and relationship marketing to explore female customers' perception of channel integration quality in omnichannel retailing and its influence on their relationship commitment to and trust in the relationship with retailers, and thus on their stickiness. Channel integration quality consists of two dimensions: channel service configuration (channel choice breadth and channel service transparency) and integrated interactions (content consistency, process consistency and perceived fluency).

Design/methodology/approach

The study was carried out via a questionnaire survey, to which 868 valid responses were collected. The partial least squares technique was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Channel service transparency and perceived fluency influence relationship commitment; content consistency, process consistency and perceived fluency all have significant effects on trust. Interestingly, although less influential than integrated interactions, channel service configuration is the foundation of channel integration quality, testifying to its significant role.

Originality/value

This study provides strong evidence on how channel integration quality affects customer stickiness. Moreover, this study replicates the finding of significant relationships among relationship commitment, trust and stickiness in omnichannel retailing.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1999

Eunah Yoh and LuAnn R. Gaskill

US retail executives' perspectives of the future of apparel retailing were explored in this study. Data were collected through personal interviews conducted at the 1996 National…

1062

Abstract

US retail executives' perspectives of the future of apparel retailing were explored in this study. Data were collected through personal interviews conducted at the 1996 National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention in New York City. Current and future changes in demographic, consumer behavioural and technological trends impacting apparel retailing were studied; current challenges in the apparel retailing field were discussed and future business strategies were recommended. Respondents' predictions include the emergence of a new competitive culture focused on the development of unique products and business strategies beyond price‐based retail competition. Retail executives recommend the development of niche markets and strong product development programmes. Based on study results, implications for retail practitioners and researchers are discussed with relevant hypotheses inductively generated from study findings. The research was funded, in part, by the Graduate Student Research Fund, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Iowa State University.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1979

Erdener Kaynak

Explains the Wheel of Retailing as an attempt to explain the dynamics of change and evolution at the social level. Suggests that the theory of new retail institutions beginning…

1437

Abstract

Explains the Wheel of Retailing as an attempt to explain the dynamics of change and evolution at the social level. Suggests that the theory of new retail institutions beginning with low levels of prices and services and then upgrading is not always proved to be so. Concludes that retailing is a social process with the development of institutions determined by the society in which they exist and not by a deterministic pattern of development.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 13 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1998

Terry Robinson

The paper examines the role that potentially could be played by the retailing sector in the economic and social transformation in Russia. The move towards a consumer goods…

1397

Abstract

The paper examines the role that potentially could be played by the retailing sector in the economic and social transformation in Russia. The move towards a consumer goods society, by its very definition, necessitates the developments of channels whereby consumer goods can reach their end customer and consumer. In this context various models of relating evolution are considered as well as an examination of the possible methods by which retailing will develop over time. The potential for inward investments is examined but the paper concludes that inward investment by retailers from the western European states will take the form of skills investment rather than financial and operational investment. The most important element in the future evolution of retailing will be the development of the multiple format as well as the procurement from indigenous consumer goods suppliers “driven” by the multiple retailers.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 98 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

Anne Marie Doherty and Barry Quinn

International retailers are increasingly using franchising as a means of entering foreign markets. However, international retail franchising lacks a conceptual basis from which an…

9624

Abstract

International retailers are increasingly using franchising as a means of entering foreign markets. However, international retail franchising lacks a conceptual basis from which an explanation of the major elements of this activity can be generated. Agency theory and its major premises of information asymmetry, monitoring costs, moral hazard and opportunism, are introduced in an attempt to provide an initial effort at bridging this conceptual gap. The paper reviews international retailing and franchise research before explaining agency theory. A discussion follows on how agency theory can explain major elements of international franchise activity of retail firms such as the international retail franchise process and the operationalisation of the international retail franchise system.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 June 2022

Nobukazu Azuma, Narimasa Yokoyama and Woonho Kim

Identifying the patterns of retail institutional change has piqued the interest of retail academics for nearly a century. The Big Middle hypothesis is one of the most recent and…

Abstract

Purpose

Identifying the patterns of retail institutional change has piqued the interest of retail academics for nearly a century. The Big Middle hypothesis is one of the most recent and hybridized versions of similar theories. According to it, retailers seeking a dominant position in retailing can migrate into the Big Middle, the largest market segment, by specializing in a large market with a broad product assortment or by focusing on a specific product category and simultaneously catering for multiple segments at the same time. This study provides empirical evidence for the latter proposition by employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on the case of UNIQLO, a Japanese clothing specialist retailing giant.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors devised a survey to assess (1) consumers' perceptions of UNIQLO's store attributes and (2) their perceived distance between the UNIQLO and potential competitors. The authors used fsQCA procedures to identify multiple confluences of causal conditions that led to a high level of consumer patronage for UNIQLO from various market segments.

Findings

The findings show that UNIQLO's dominance in the Big Middle stems not only from capturing a sizable homogeneous market but from aggregating multiple heterogeneous market segments with disparities of various types. This finding explains how a specialty store retailer achieves its Big Middle position.

Research limitations/implications

The findings gleaned from fsQCA are not statistically generalisable. It, therefore, is essential to ensure whether similar phenomena are observed under different spatiotemporal settings. Concerning the scope of the research, this study's finding is pertinent to only one part of the Big Middle hypothesis. Future studies are required to cover other dimensions of the Big Middle, including the generalist retailer's cases of the Big Middle.

Practical implications

The results of this study may present a valuable tool to deepen retailers' understandings on; (1) the multiple causal recipes of customer patronages to their retail offerings, (2) who the pure fans of their stores are, (3) who their principal rivals are in the mind space of the consumers, and (4) their overall market position upon aiming to realise the Big Middle. It will give retail managers an insight into how to design, implement, and churn an efficient and effective RBM.

Originality/value

The study's originality is in empirically scrutinizing and elaborating a part of the mechanism of retail change heralded by the Big Middle hypothesis.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 50 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 April 2014

Özge Öner and Johan P. Larsson

Which retail services are co-located in space? Is it possible to categorize retail stores of different kinds with respect to their location pattern? Acknowledging the spatial…

1360

Abstract

Purpose

Which retail services are co-located in space? Is it possible to categorize retail stores of different kinds with respect to their location pattern? Acknowledging the spatial dependency between different and similar kinds of retailing activities, the aim of this paper is to find if and to what extent co-location is present in a retail market and what kind of retailing activities are co-located.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyse the co-location of different types of retail stores in Sweden by using geo-coded data. The data they use allows them to pinpoint each establishment in Sweden down to a 250 by 250m square in space. First, they identify a measure of co-location for each retail service by utilizing pairwise correlations between the different retail service establishments with respect to the squares in which they are present. Later, by using the finest level of industrial categorization for all physical retailing activities (and limiting their geographical unit to the Stockholm metropolitan market), they perform factor analysis to nest these retailing activities under relevant categories based on their co-location pattern.

Findings

In this analysis the authors obtain four major factors for the squares with retail stores, in which several kinds of retail activities are nested. These factors reveal a certain degree of location commonality for the markets in question.

Originality/value

The authors' empirical design is based on a highly disaggregated spatial information and the methodology is novel in a sense that it has not been used to address a similar question. Rather than sampling, the authors use the total population, where they take all physical retailing activities into account to be able to draw a general picture for the co-location phenomena in the entire retail market.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 42 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Ana Paula Miotto and Juracy Gomes Parente

The purpose of this paper is to develop a taxonomy to describe and synthesize the retail strategies and store formats in the fast-changing modernization context of emerging…

2377

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a taxonomy to describe and synthesize the retail strategies and store formats in the fast-changing modernization context of emerging markets. It identifies how these different formats are related to the existing literature about retail evolution. The paper proposes analogies between the empirical findings and the Big Middle Theory model developed by Levy et al. (2005).

Design/methodology/approach

Structured observations and personal interviews were conducted with managers/owners of 108 apparel stores located in three unplanned shopping districts in São Paulo, Brazil. Cluster analysis was used to derive the store formats.

Findings

The results identify four store formats – old fashioned, price focused, specialized, and consolidated – reflecting diverse marketing strategies and different stages in the retailing modernization cycle. There is a striking resemblance between these empirically derived formats and the four types of retail segments (Big Middle, Low price, Innovative, and in Trouble) proposed by the Big Middle model.

Research limitations/implications

There are limitations due to the exploratory nature of the research: the specific context (São Paulo, apparel retail sector) where the empirical data was collected restricts the generalization of the results to other situations; lack of precision in the appraisal of the variables might limit the research replicability. Nevertheless, this research contributes to expanding the scarce knowledge about the retailing phenomenon in emerging markets. An extension of the Big Middle model is suggested to depict the existing retail formats in emerging markets, offering therefore a theoretical contribution to the retail literature.

Practical implications

The study provides retailers with a framework against which to map their format, competitive strategy, and stages of the modernization cycle, enabling them to better adjust the configuration of their marketing mix variables. It also offers a classification scheme of stores formats which will help to describe the apparel retailing industry in emerging markets.

Social implications

Public policies are suggested to technically assist the modernization process and survival of more vulnerable retail formats.

Originality/value

Considering the fast-growing economic importance of the new “low-middle class” of emerging markets, and also the relevance of apparel retailing, this research is relevant and unique because it helps to bridge a gap in the limited literature and knowledge in this area.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 43 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

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