Role of Logistics Integration Capability in Enhancing Performance in Omni-Channel Retailing: Supply Chain Integration as Mediator

Although the importance and benefits of logistics integration in omni-channel (OC) retailing have been discussed in the literature, the impacts of logistics integration from the dimension of internal and external logistics remain unknown. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the relationships among internal and external logistics integration capabilities, supply-chain integration (SCI), and financial performance (FP) in OC retailing based on the dynamic capability view. An empirical study is conducted based on a survey of 230 OC retailers in China's market. Factor analysis and regression analysis are conducted to examine the hypotheses of the proposed conceptual model. The quantitative analyses show that the internal logistics integration capability is significantly related to the external logistics integration capability, and they both have positive effects on SCI, while the external logistics integration capability generates a higher impact (i.e., almost 1.5 times that of the internal logistics integration capability). The numerical results also demonstrate that the logistics integration capabilities and SCI have similar positive effects on FP (i.e., all the relevant regression coefficients show values around 0.25), and SCI plays a partial intermediary role in the relationships between logistics integration capabilities and FP. Furthermore, the quantitative evidence addresses the fact that the FP is not influenced by OC retailers' characteristics, indicating a fair business environment in the OC retail industry.

Engaging the customer with augmented reality and employee services to enhance equity and loyalty

PurposeThis study aims to understand customer equity and loyalty using augmented reality (AR) and employee services in a physical retail environment. The current study investigated how customers' experiences with AR-based and employee service affect their satisfaction, equity and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework was developed by reviewing AR and employee services literature. The Smart PLS-SEM technique was used to test the responses of 620 Chinese respondents empirically.FindingsThe findings provided valuable insights into AR and employee services in a physical retail environment. Customers are more inclined to use AR services in the current business climate.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's sample was drawn from a single city, with a total of 620 respondents, which may not be a complete representation of China as a whole. As a result, the results may not be generalizable to a single city.Practical implicationsRetail brand managers should emphasize implementing innovative technologies in the physical retail environment to retain and attract customers. Pandemic consumers are opting for innovative technologies as part of their shopping experience due to changes in business models.Originality/valueThe researchers recognized AR and employee services as innovative domains in physical retail stores because they can increase sales, customer equity and loyalty. As a result, the framework results are precious to practitioners interested in implementing such innovative technologies for retail stores.

Relationship sustainability-store equity across segments of retail customers

PurposeThe study of sustainability in retail has experienced an exponential interest in recent years as a result of greater awareness on the part of consumers of the negative effects of the current way of producing and consuming on society and the environment. This work examines the heterogeneous evaluation based on behavioural variables in retail trade and how consumer perceptions towards sustainable practices implemented in stores can influence the overall store equity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose a theoretical model based on the literature, tested through a mixed regression model in a sample of 510 customers of food retail establishments.FindingsThe dimensions of sustainability are postulated as driving forces of brand equity towards the retail establishment. Specifically, social sustainability shows a greater impact on consumer perception, being the main factor in the development of the store's brand equity. Furthermore, the analysis of unobserved heterogeneity identifies three latent classes in which the effects of perceptions on sustainable retail activities vary across consumer segments.Originality/valueThe study analyses in a single model the effect of sustainability dimensions on store equity from the consumer's perspective, analysing the differences between these relationships as a consequence of the unobserved heterogeneity of consumers.

Artificial intelligence in retail – a systematic literature review

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to present a systematic literature review of academic peer-reviewed articles in English published between 2005 and 2021. The articles were reviewed based on the following features: research topic, conceptual and theoretical characterization, artificial intelligence (AI) methods and techniques.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the extent to which AI features within academic research in retail industry and aims to consolidate existing knowledge, analyse the development on this topic, clarify key trends and highlight gaps in the scientific literature concerning the role of AI in retail.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate an increase in AI literature within the field of retailing in the past five years. However, this research field is fairly fragmented in scope and limited in methodologies, and it has several gaps. On the basis of a structured topic allocation, a total of eight priority topics were identified and highlighted that (1) optimizing the retail value chain and (2) improving customer expectations with the help of AI are key topics in published research in this field.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on academic peer-reviewed articles published before July 2021;hence, scientific outputs published after the moment of writing have not been included.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the in-depth and systematic exploration of the extent to which retail scholars are aware of and working on AI. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first systematic literature review within retailing research dealing with AI technology.

Retail Marketing Communication and the Consumer Behaviour of Selected Generations

Cábyová reviews Retail Marketing Communication and the Consumer Behaviour of Selected Generations by A. Kusá, T. Fasiang and D. Kollárová.

Entrepreneurial strategies for coping with supply chain disruptions in the grocery-retail sector

PurposeThis study aims to explore business strategies adopted by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK's grocery-retail industry to cope with supply chain (SC) disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted two phases of research methods. In Phase 1, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten SMEs from England. Whilst abiding by national guidelines on the travel restrictions imposed by the government, in Phase 2 email-based interviews were conducted with 22 SMEs across the UK's grocery-retail industry. The thematic analysis technique was adopted to analyse the data.FindingsThis study reveals that SMEs need clearer avenues of communication with the government and better resources for learning and training. SMEs also need to expand their implementation of information technology to improve SC collaboration. In the meantime, they need to improve their power positions in SCs and reduce dependence on SC partners.Originality/valueSMEs in the grocery-retailer industry have been increasingly under pressure to compete with bigger grocery retailers. During the pandemic they have faced great challenges and been looking for strategies to improve their performance. While a major proportion of participants in the grocery-retailer industry are fragmented SMEs, the majority of studies have focussed on larger retailers and end consumers. With the help of the social exchange theory, this research reveals new insights into business strategies to cope with SC disruptions, and offer the foundation for a new line of research on preparation for future disruptions.

Changing tenant covenant perceptions and flexibility in the lease model in UK city centres

The retailing industry in the UK is experiencing unprecedented structural change. The impact on retailers has often dominated headlines, along with the impacts on local services and economies, but with little attention given to the implications for property owners and practitioners. Exploring and understanding the responsiveness of landlords, and their behaviours, is essential to understanding the adaptiveness of a retailing system. This study employs semi-structured interviews to examine the short- and long-term changes in the retail market and the actions of landlords in response. The findings span the period prior to and during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and reveal that fundamental changes have occurred to establish tenant covenant norms and the traditional retail leasing model. The paper explores these changes, including a shift in tenant risk, reposition of the leasing model in favour of tenants, generally, and greater application of turnover rents. The pressing challenge for current valuation practitioners, therefore, is to incorporate these fundamental changes within the market into the pricing of retail assets. Significant progress in this area to date, as explored in the paper, has been limited although greater application of discounted cashflow techniques is set to be encouraged by the RICS.

Exploring Small Fashion Retailers' Green Efforts in Supply Chain Management and Coping Strategies During COVID-19

Few studies have investigated the engagement of America's small businesses in sustainability. The purpose of this study was to explore the current business model of small fashion retailers, target customers, product distribution channels, sources of revenue, and green efforts in supply chain management based on the Six-R framework. This study also investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small fashion businesses. Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews of owners/employees of four small fashion retailers. Interview findings revealed that small fashion retailers implemented green supply chain practices through recycling, reusing, and reducing. Findings indicated that cost and limited resources challenged the retailers in making green efforts. The results suggest small fashion retailers can improve sustainability engagement by re-designing, recovering, and remanufacturing products in the operational and manufacturing processes. COVID-19 pushed the retailers to deal with their problems in new and creative ways.

The role of decent work in the Zimbabwean retail sector: Testing a job engagement and turnover intention model

Orientation: There is a continued call to understand those factors that not only affect work engagement but also reduce turnover. A broad umbrella of work emerges arguing for ascertaining how decent work conditions affect these outcomes of work. Research purpose: To offer insight into the relationship between decent work, job engagement and turnover intention in the retail sector in Zimbabwe. Motivations for the study: Rapid changes in the business environment have undoubtedly led to a deterioration of work standards across all sectors although the retail sector seems to have been more vulnerable and suffered the most. This calls for the need to investigate on decent work, a key mechanism in maximising labour force potential such as job engagement and turnover intentions are not ignored. Research approach/design and method: The study adopted a descriptive survey design using a quantitative approach. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for the purpose of analysis with the Structural Equation Model (SEM) utilised. Main findings: The study found a positive significant relationship between decent work and job engagement. A positive significant relationship was also established between job engagement and turnover intention whereas, a very weak and statistically insignificant relationship existed between decent work and turnover intention. Practical/managerial implications: Retail sector managers ought to prioritise decent work and pay closer attention to its impact on job engagement and turnover intention. A focus on these constructs will breed a highly engaged and committed workforce that will give the sector competitive advantage. Contribution: Very few studies have shed light on the construct of decent work in developing economies, and specifically in Zimbabwe. Decent work is critical in the realisation of the sustainable development goal (SDG) 8. Its correlation with job engagement and turnover intention brings to light quite invaluable insights to the management of human capital in the retail sector.

Managing major supply chain disruptions

Purpose>This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approach>This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.Findings>Supply chain disruption during a severe crisis has serious implications for SMEs in the grocery-retail sector. Affected firms must use information and communications technology to enhance collaboration with key supply chain partners so that closer links can be formed. Appropriate business strategies can help increase the flexibility of SMEs, reduce their dependency on external partners and better equip them to meet the challenge.Originality/value>The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

ENHANCING RETAIL WORKFORCE PERFORMANCE WITH A REAL-OPTIONS APPROACH

Madhani discusses the need to enhance retail workforce performance with a real-options approach. The traditional retail industry carries a long overall impact in the global economy, occupying a vital position in the supply chain and serving as a major employer. The brick-and-mortar retail has been facing very challenging times in recent years due to extremely high competitiveness, soaring customer expectations, and the increasing proliferation of online retailers. Those challenges have been exacerbated by COVID-19 as most physical stores closed with lockdowns, forcing shoppers to stay away, and millions of retail workers were unable to do their jobs from home. The retail sector is very labor-intensive, so any disruptions have disproportionate employment consequences. The retail sector also relies on low-wage and part-time, on-call and gig workers who are not well covered by traditional social protection measures, which further strengthens the social consequences of the crisis in this sector.

The Application of ARIMA Model in Retailing Industry and Forecasting on Economic Trend of Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted our lives, and many industries are experiencing instability. We are curious to see whether retailing businesses, one of the most robust industries in US, have been affected, and if affected, how have the industry been affected. In order to gain the required insight, we first acquire stock prices of six representative retailing companies in US, then we apply ARIMA model on the data to forecast their trends in the near future, which will imply the general robustness of the industry. This procedure includes testing the stationary of time series data of stocks, and finding the suitable ARIMA parameters for each stock, using various methods. Accuracy metrics are brought into discussion to determine how accurate our forecast is. Finally, we draw the conclusion that ARIMA model, being a suitable method for our case of study, has given us desirable result: the stocks of 6 selected retailing companies will perform steadily with slight increase at the end of the year. There are several practical values or our research: By applying ARIMA models on stocks of retailing companies, we discovered that application of such models on retailing industry is not only pragmatic, but effective;and the results of our analysis provide future researchers with insight of economy of this era of pandemic. © 2022 SPIE.

Tourism and Authenticity: Analyzing Retail Change in Lisbon City Center

Retail is one of the defining elements of urban spaces. The study of commerce is largely based on its evolution and how it relates with urban environments. Currently, with the advent of mass tourism, there has been an adjustment in the commercial fabric of the area’s most sought after by tourists. Among these latter areas, the historical centers of commerce stand out. The first objective of this research is to analyze the modern evolution of the commercial fabric of Lisbon by comparing the city center with the rest of the city. For this goal, I use a quantitative approach through the quotient location for specific retail typologies. The results show dissimilarities that are associated with the geographical location of retail, which vary according to the different retail typologies being analyzed. The second goal is based on the assumption that the mere analysis of the evolution of the retail typologies is limited in the context of tourist cities. Considering this matter, a qualitative method (photo analysis, conceptually supported by the concept of authenticity) is used. The results show the usefulness of the concept of authenticity to apprehend and discuss how retail is reacting to the tourism industry, thereby contributing to the transformation of the city center into a leisure and entertainment destination.

THE IMPACT OF TOURIST ARRIVALS ON RETAIL TRADE TURNOVER IN CROATIA

The share of tourism in the Croatian economy has been growing over the years whereby Croatia has one of the largest shares of tourism in Gross domestic product (GDP) in Europe. Therefore, tourism can be considered as one of the most important driver of the Croatian economy. The number of tourist arrivals affects many economic variables such as industry, retail trade, service activities, construction, employment, prices etc. In this paper, the focus will be on the impact of tourist arrivals on retail trade turnover in Croatia. By definition, retail trade is the sale of goods to final consumers for personal consumption or use in households and like tourism, retail trade is also very important component of Croatian GDP. For the purpose of the analysis, monthly data on the number of tourist arrivals and retail trade turnover (in real terms) are used. To determine the relationship between the variables the bounds testing (ARDL) approach for cointegration is applied. The results indicate the existence of stable cointegration relationship between the variables. In the long-run, an increase in tourist arrivals increases retail trade turnover in Croatia whereby in the short-run there is no impact. The error correction coefficient is highly statistically significant, has the correct sign and suggests slow speed of adjustment to the long-run equilibrium.

Role of Distribution Centers Disruptions in New Retail Supply Chain: An Analysis Experiment

The convergence of physical stores and e-commerce has led to the emergence of a new retail business mode in the retail industry. In today’s world, new retail supply chains face the potential risks of disruption caused by natural and man-made disasters, and epidemics. In this paper, we simulate a three-stage new retail supply chain consisting of suppliers, manufacturers, and a retailer with online and offline channels in the AnyLogistix simulation and optimization software. We develop a simulation model to analyze the effects of various supply chain node disruptions on new retail supply chain performance and service level with consideration of four scenarios: disruption-free;manufacturer disruption;warehouse center disruption;offline store disruption. The main results show that supply chain node disruptions have negative impacts on the performance and service level. Besides, the warehouse center disruption has the most devastating effect on this new retail supply chain. Overall, this paper provides insights for decision-makers to consider disruption issues when designing resilient new retail supply chains.

Industry 4.0 enablers in retailing: a literature review

Purpose>The aim of this paper is to study and describe the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept in the retail industry by identifying the technology enablers, the benefits and the challenges involved in adopting these technologies.Design/methodology/approach>The work is built on a systematic literature review (SLR) about the I4.0 concept within retail studies through the enablers codified by the Industry 4.0 literature.Findings>The concept of Industry 4.0 within the retail context is presented through three relevant technology enablers I4.0 emerges as a latent concept represented by technologies adopted to study customer behaviour and manage customer relationships and, partially, to optimise retail management. Furthermore, the paper highlights the benefits and challenges stemming from the adoption of I4.0 technology enablers in the retail industry.Originality/value>The use of a SLR to describe the I4.0 concept in the retail industry identifying the relevant technology enablers and their relations. The article lays the foundations for future studies on the integrated effects of the contemporary actions of multiple technologies on retail management.

Using Lean to Improve Operational Performance in a Retail Store and E-Commerce Service: A Portuguese Case Study

Ensuring on-shelf availability is essential for retailers to maintain high service levels for both in-store and E-Commerce consumers. The performance of this indicator largely depends on reorder planning decisions, as well as on the effectiveness of the replenishment process. This paper presents a case study that involved two Lean initiatives, which together have contributed to a significantly reduction in the number of out-of-stock events incurred by a retail store and an increase in the order fulfilment rate accomplished by the online commerce service. In the first initiative, a value stream management (VSM) methodology was adopted to redesign the existing replenishment process in the most relevant fresh food market: fruits and vegetables. The second initiative involved the implementation of a simple, but effective visual inventory management system in the warehouse of the E-Commerce division, where a wide set of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) is stored using kanban cards. This paper hence demonstrates, through practical application, that Lean tools can be employed to improve operational processes with positive impacts on both the physical store performance and on results regarding the online commerce business.

Common Fiscal Capacity Is Needed to Strengthen Risk Sharing

This asymmetric effect of the shock on economic activities becomes an asymmetric impact on countries depending on their sectoral composition.

Analyzing Performance in Wholesale Trade Romanian SMEs: Framing Circular Economy Business Scenarios

The study analyzes the performance levels achieved by Romanian wholesaler SMEs from Hunedoara County and to advance some practical courses of action designed to support local entrepreneurs in improving efficiency and in embracing circular economy (CE) practices. We employed cluster and discriminant analyses with a focus on providing an accurate classification of trade SMEs, according to their performance. Three distinct classifications of SMEs resulted in: (i) a class of enterprises displaying high levels of the rates of return, whose business owners exhibited an increased risk appetite and applied investment policies focusing on future development by means of incorporating digital instruments;(ii) a class of SMEs displaying average levels of rates of return, which manage to survive in situations of crisis through maintaining the position previously gained on the market;and (iii) a class of SMEs exhibiting a precarious financial position and employing defensive strategies, with managers who are reluctant to take risks in the innovation processes. Furthermore, we present a cloud computing solution which was tailored for one of the companies from our sample that appeared to be the most likely to carry out the transition from the average SME performance class to the higher class. The main advantages that are brought about by the IT solution in terms of environmental sustainability consist of: improvements in energy efficiency, the decrease in carbon footprints, the lowering of operational costs and the diminishing of the amount of e-waste.

Does sustainability drive to create store equity? A proposal through image, quality and loyalty

Purpose>The present research aims to analyse the retailer's commitment to sustainable development (RCSD) perceived by the consumers and how it contributes to store equity creation through image, perceived quality and loyalty.Design/methodology/approach>A primary research was conducted through a structured questionnaire to analyse the relationships between the variables included in the proposed model. The fieldwork was conducted in 2019, obtaining responses from 617 retail consumers from four cities in Ecuador – Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Machala – obtained. A structural equation model is estimated with the partial least squares technique.Findings>There is evidence in favour of the contribution of sustainability to store equity. The positive influence of RCSD on perceived quality and the impact of the latter, together with store image, contribute to loyalty, which emerges as a critical construct in building store equity.Research limitations/implications>Some limitations of the present study – geographic scope limited to Ecuador, analyses restricted to food retailers and pre-COVID-19 data collection – may open new research opportunities replicating the study in other regions for other retail activities and in the post pandemic context.Practical implications>The retailer's actions demonstrate a commitment to economic, social and environmental sustainability. As a result of this, the establishment's perceived quality improves, which is of interest to academics and retail management professionals.Originality/value>The present research provides evidence on the chain of effects that explains the positive contribution of RCSD to store equity creation in grocery retailing.