Search results

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe similarities between logistics structures and mid-term planning problems in the grocery retail and automotive industries in a specific internal section of their respective supply chains.

The benchmarking approach is used as a framework for this paper. It is based on insights resulting from several joint projects with grocery retailers and automobile producers. A particular focus of the research was participating in an exchange of ideas and experience between logistics managers in both industry sectors.

The authors have identified parallels when comparing the internal retail supply chain of the grocery retail industry, which consists of distribution centres, transportation and in-store logistics, with the internal logistics network in the automotive industry, which consists of logistics supermarkets, transportation and work zone operations at the assembly line. Strong similarities have been found for three planning problems related to tactical planning tasks: assigning products and parts to delivery modes, selecting packaging units and loading carriers, and determining delivery cycles. In comparison to retailing, there is a clearer trend in the automotive industry to plan line-back and align processes with the operator's requirements at the assembly line.

For logisticians in grocery retailing and the automotive industry, this paper provides relevant input for functional benchmarking initiatives and offers an inspirational view beyond the horizon.

This paper is the first to focus on similarities in logistics network structures and planning tasks between the two industries from the viewpoint of grocery retailing.

Between November 1999 and September 2000, Priceline.com offered a new service in grocery stores in certain US cities, which allowed customers to shop for low prices online. The service required consumers to make bids on various items and then Priceline would tell them whether their bids were accepted. Consumers would then go to the grocery store to collect the actual items and use their Priceline.com card to pay at the register. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how this service affected members of the grocery marketing channel including: retail stores, manufacturers of packaged goods and consumers. The analysis suggests that the Priceline system could have altered the power structure of the grocery industry, had they been able to keep the cash draining service alive and had they cultivated the appropriate partnerships.

Markets are characterised by distinctive patterns of competition, sources of threat or opportunity and, indeed, various levels of profitability. The author considers how significant new entry to grocery retailing is unlikely to be due to sharp competition and increasing rarity of good supermarket/superstore sites. Furthermore, the buyers from the industry, the grocery shoppers, are not so much participants in the power struggles, as weapons in it.

This study examines customers of grocers who provide both online and traditional in‐store options to determine if there are substantial differences in customer's perceptions of service quality, product quality, product range, and sacrifices made when using a specific channel. By better understanding customer preferences, firms can appropriately match strategy and market expectations.

Data were gathered from 271 traditional in‐store customers and 1,720 online customers from three grocers. Survey results from these two groups was analyzed using regression analysis consisting of independent variables measuring the sacrifices of using a given channel, and the quality of service, products and product range and dependent variables of behavioral intentions and percent of business given to the grocer.

Online customers have a higher level of satisfaction with their service encounters, but lower levels with the tangible aspects of product quality, range of products available and channel usage sacrifices. They also spend a larger portion of their grocery “wallet” with the grocer and are less price sensitive than their in‐store counterparts.

Online customers place a premium on convenience and will spend more with firms that meet this need. Given the very low profit margins in this industry, the ability to draw and retain these customers is vitally important.

This study presents one of the first direct comparisons of customers who use two different channels from the same grocery provider to examine customer perceptions for improved strategic service and product delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast customer perceptions related to satisfaction with conventional grocery stores as compared to specialty grocery stores. The study examines store attributes of product assortment, price, quality, and service in order to determine which attributes have the greatest impact on store satisfaction for each store format.

A mail survey was sent to a sample of specialty and conventional grocery store customers. The ten state sample was drawn from US households located in postal (ZIP) codes in areas where national specialty stores (e.g. whole foods) were located.

Perception of satisfaction were higher among specialty grocery store customers compared to conventional grocery store customers. For both store formats, store price, product assortment, service and quality positively influenced satisfaction. Stepwise regression indicated that each store attribute contributed differently to store satisfaction for conventional and specialty store formats.

The results demonstrate that price, product assortment, quality, and employee service influence store satisfaction regardless of store type (conventional stores or specialty stores). However, the degree of influence of these attributes varied by store type. The results imply that while specialty store shopper satisfaction characteristics are clearly delineated, conventional store shopper characteristics are more difficult to pinpoint. Research limitations include a sample that is more highly educated and has higher incomes than the average American household.

Despite the growth of new product categories and new industry players, few studies have investigated customer satisfaction within the retail food industry. Comparisons of specialty and conventional food stores are equally scarce.

Fresh products' homogeneity makes it difficult for grocery stores to differentiate themselves by improving product or service quality. This study analysed grocery store loyalty from the perspective of self-congruence and compared the relative importance of affective attachment and lifestyle matching, which acts as a mediating mechanism in influencing customer loyalty.

Individuals in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Beijing and Xi'an; representative cities of China's east, south, west, north and central regions, responded to questionnaires. Altogether, 282 valid responses were obtained; structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

The findings show that lifestyle congruence has a greater mediating effect than emotional attachment in the relationship between store-self congruence and grocery store loyalty. Furthermore, social self-congruence was the dominant dimension of store-self congruence that affects grocery store loyalty.

The first important academic contribution of this study is the provision of knowledge on the issue of whether to focus on generating grocery store loyalty via the mediating effect of emotional attachment or lifestyle congruence. Furthermore, the empirical findings further clarify the boundary of brand attachment theory, demonstrating the limitation of this theory in explaining the mediating mechanism for self-congruence on loyalty in a context that sells low-involvement products in a collectivistic culture. Another academic contribution focuses on the examination of dominant dimensions of self-congruence.

This study provides a new strategy for grocery store managers to avoid the trap of homogeneous competition, namely, to clearly define consumers' social rather than personal identity. Additionally, grocery stores should focus on matching their image with target customers' lifestyles when building customer loyalty.

This study's findings also shed light on public policy. Some implications could be increasing the layout rationality of retail commercial outlets to facilitate the interaction between grocery stores and community consumers and promoting the matching of grocery stores and consumer lifestyles. Such policies may boost grocery sales, which in turn would boost farmers' incomes.

Compared to previous studies, this study analysed the customer loyalty of grocery stores from the perspective of self-congruence, analysed the mechanisms by which self-congruence influences customer loyalty via the mediating effects of emotional attachment and lifestyle congruence and compared the relative significance of these two paths. Furthermore, this study clarified the relative importance of self-congruence dimensions in influencing grocery store loyalty.

By analyzing and discussing the case, students should be able to identify macro environmental factors that impact business decision-making; apply Michael Porter’s five forces framework; evaluate sources of synergy; understand the concept of disruptive innovation; choose sources of competitive advantage; apply the value proposition canvas; and apply tenets of Blue Ocean strategy.

The grocery retail market in India accounts for nearly 70% ($608bn) of the total retail market ($883bn). The brick-and-mortar multi-tiered distribution network for groceries encompasses a million wholesalers and distributors and 12 million retail outlets. These retail outlets serve as customer touch points where bulk of grocery shopping is done. The online grocery industry is a miniscule $5.5bn. High incomes, change in purchase behaviour, inclination towards speed and convenience on the demand side and alacrity on the supply side have paved the way for new format, quick commerce. Trends and forecasts suggest that quick commerce, a high cash burn business, will grow exponentially. Zomato has jumped onto the quick commerce bandwagon with the acquisition of loss-making Blinkit. The case analyses the quick commerce industry through the lens of Michael Porter’s five forces framework and the Blue Ocean strategy. It elaborates the profitability drivers of the industry and also examines the sources of synergy from the acquisition.

This case is suitable for a class on strategy in postgraduate-level courses. It can be used in a session on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

There is a paucity of literature considering horizontal collaboration among grocery retailers, suppliers, and third‐party logistics (3PL) providers. This paper seeks to investigate benefits of and barriers to the use of fourth‐party logistics (4PL) management as a catalyst for horizontal collaboration.

Three suppliers, three logistics service providers (LSPs), and one grocery retailer participated in semi‐structured interviews for this exploratory qualitative study.

Large LSPs can establish 4PL management but the significant investment required to do so is a deterrent. Interviewees believed 4PL would negatively influence the grocery retailer‐supplier dynamic but simultaneously would provide key potential benefits. Retaining supply chain control means more to grocery retailers than cost efficiencies realised through horizontal collaboration.

Fierce competition among major grocery chains means that most are unwilling to participate in studies of their systems, which restricts the research scope.

Some stakeholders want deeper integration into grocery supply networks, and the 4PL model could apply to diverse sectors and circumstances. This study shows that barriers to such integration are created by power plays among lead stakeholders in grocery retailing that inhibit horizontal collaboration regardless of cost or other benefits.

The study investigates an under‐researched aspect of horizontal supply chain collaboration in the highly relevant retail grocery sector: a high volume, mass market industry that requires an enormous logistics infrastructure and highly embedded networks of relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to explore factors and their impacts influencing online grocery shopping intentions among customers in the post COVID-19 situation. Moreover, the study aims at evaluating the mediating roles of shopping habits during COVID-19 between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and post COVID-19 online grocery shopping intentions.

Based on a review of the literature and collection of 401 useable valid responses, the study was conducted through structured questionnaires applying personal interview technique. The subsequent analysis was conducted through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart PLS 3.3.3.

The study findings revealed that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and shopping habits during COVID-19 have a significant influence on post COVID-19 online grocery shopping intentions. Also, the study has uncovered that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly influence shopping habits during COVID-19 among customers. Furthermore, the current study has revealed that hopping habit during COVID-19 significantly mediates the relationship between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and post COVID-19 online grocery shopping intentions.

The study findings have provided practical suggestions of developing and improving technological platforms to attract new customers for online grocery shopping. Further, the study suggests that online grocery retailers should apply adjusted pricing strategies using coupons and discount offers.

This paper investigates factors and its impacts on online grocery shopping intentions in post COVID-19 context. Therefore, the study uncovers the factors that add value to understanding customers' post COVID-19 online grocery shopping intentions by integrating perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and shopping habits during COVID-19.

Quickly responding to customer needs has become a major priority for retail businesses such as grocery operations. Customer satisfaction is an absolute for staying competitive in these retail operations. This paper discusses efficient consumer response (ECR) as a supply chain strategy in grocery businesses by analyzing the adoption of ECR strategy by five major grocery operations in US markets. Furthermore, a management action plan is presented for future adoption of ECR strategy by similar business operations.