Journal of Business and Retail Management Research

The current study explores boredom within the context of a retail environment in order to explore ways in which the experience of workplace boredom can be managed. The questionnaire-based study of 117 employees of a national supermarket chain found that although only 17% of participants experienced chronic boredom at work, 40-50% claimed that workplace boredom leads to potentially serious consequences such as making mistakes or leaving their jobs. Multiple regression analysis suggests that routine is the biggest contributor to workplace boredom, followed by the personality trait of Boredom Proneness. Implications for retail organisations are outlined

Large supermarket chains can offer lower prices through economies of scale but their size can be a disadvantage when CSR issues become important because smaller retailers may be more connected to their local community. In an era when disillusionment with globalisation is rife and many consumers are aware of the importance of ethics in trading, Tesco and even the Co-op may be at a disadvantage compared to retailers such as Waitrose and Booths. In the UK, areas of poverty and of high ethnicity exist where people may eat unhealthily; this situation may call for CSR initiatives to improve diet, and so alleviate future dietary-related health costs. As the barriers to a healthy diet are often local in character, smaller food retailers are in the best position to implement meaningful initiatives here. Larger grocery retailers need to adopt a more localised company structure, and to co-operate with smaller companies in the food chain to adopt best CSR practices

In India, retail is the second largest employer after agriculture, providing employment to over 35 million people. Employment in this sector has witnessed changes after the 1990s with the modernisation of retail. Since retail is labour-intensive, the FDI policy on retail is linked with employment. This paper examines employment conditions in organised and unorganised retail and provides policy recommendations for the Indian government. The paper is based on a survey of around 500 retail employees and employers, using descriptive techniques. The paper found that the quality of employment and future job prospects are better in the organised sector than in the unorganised sector. The focus of the government should, therefore, be on generating quality employment. The policy recommendations, if implemented, can generate employment in the organised sector while minimising the adverse impact on the unorganised sector

In the retail industry, customer experience, satisfaction and service are going to become the limiting differentiators. Increasing competition is creating pressure on retailers to improve both inventory turnover and customer service. Poor logistic management can result in either over stocking (leading to cash flow problems and unnecessary discounts) or lost sales due to stock outs. Stock outs can have serious impact on the business as it affects retailer’s credibility and consumer’s satisfaction. It is important to understand the cost of a retail stock out before the implementation of any retail inventory model.This paper gives valuable insights about customer value, satisfaction and loyalty that can be used by retailers in designing their logistics and inventory models. First, it examines the relationship between customer loyalty, customer value, customer satisfaction, logistics value and out of stock conditions. Second, it explores the role of improved inventory control and the logistics management on customer service. Finally, this study provides valuable insights to retailers on managing consumer’s store attitude by making more informed and rationalized decisions regarding retail product offering and relevant environmental variables

The present paper examines on the basis of a single case-study the evolution of logistics in the Italian grocery industry. It analyses the effects of the reengineering the logistic system on efficiency and, in particular, on the manufacturer-retailer relationship. The paper sheds light on new logistic strategy made by the largest retailer in Italy. It shows also that the reorganisation of the supply chain affects the relationship between manufacturer and retailer. This reorganisation leads to important changes in the balance of power along the distribution channel. This paper is based on a specific case study, therefore it may not be generalised outside Italy. However, it represents a first example applying the principles of logistic centralisation in the Italian retail industry, which is characterised by a low level of innovation in logistics, due to its fragmented market structure. Our work aims to suggest managers of retailing firms operating in Italy the main operational guidelines to run their company. The study, in fact, provides important lessons on how the adoption of innovative logistic system can positively affect operational efficiency and vertical relationship

The organized retail sector in India is witnessing a transformation, where the traditional retailers are making way for new formats. Both existing and emerging players are experimenting with modern retail formats. These modern retail formats offer wide variety to customers and present an ideal shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, entertainment and service, all under a single roof. Consumer dynamics in India is also changing and the retailers need to take note of this and formulate their strategies and tactics to deliver the exact expected value to the customer The main objective of this paper is to study the pricing strategies, promotional strategies and retention strategies adopted by different retailers in Punjab and attributes they are providing to consumers while shopping. The retail attributes that considered in this paper are divided into two types: Product attributes and Store attributes. Quality, Price, Brand, Assortment of merchandise, Easy availability of products, Proper display of products and Exchange facilities are major product attributes and Ambience, Location, Convenience, In-Store promotions, Store atmosphere, Parking facility, Long working hours and Trained sales personnel are store attributes. The result of the study shows that consumers give more preference to product attributes than store attributes. This paper also demonstrate that strategies that give economic benefits to consumers like discounts, coupons, free gifts are more successf

Despite the large amount of theory and research on consumer purchase decision, current interest is in the cases where involvement with or importance of the product choice is low and the product is purchased frequently or repeatedly. The present paper provides a view of decision making based low involvement product where consumers are not motivated to engage in a systematic decision process rather they apply very simple, quick and effortless decision. To examine the understanding of consumer buying behaviour the marketing manager should have a thorough knowledge regarding the influence of demographic variables. This article is dedicated to exploring and examining the influence of demographic perspective on consumer decision making for low involvement product. Analyses of the results reveal significant difference between gender and purchase decision, age and purchase decision, income and purchase decision occupation and purchase decision. At the end of the paper, a few recommendations along with some agenda for future research studies are proposed

Psychology of consumer seeks to explain human or consumer behaviour, in two basic ways: what the consumer wants? and what the consumer needs? Consumer behaviour involves the use and disposal of products/services. For every sector, the usage of products/services is often of great interest to the marketer, because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased consumption. This paper provides detail information about the consumers' preferences for organized and unorganized retail formats of Indian retail industry. In India, retailing is one of the pillars of the economy and accounts for 13% of GDP. In this paper, an attempt made to investigate the preferences along with perception of functional benefits offered by the two formats of retailing along with demographic and personal factors. This study resulted in useful insights about better prediction of consumers' behaviour. Consumers’ purchase from more than one outlet despite some preferred store or store format. This indicates that consumers' perception of outlets and preference do not result in patronizing of retail outlets. The paper also argues that situational factors should be considered for better predictability of consumers' buying behaviour

Brand Building in general is one of the issues concerning Strategic Brand management. Retailer issues in Branding are a branch out of this. The purpose of this paper is to identify certain measures for building Retail brand especially in the organized sector, with objectives such as to identify which activity the customers most prefer in any Retail Outlet, to identify the customers level of satisfaction towards a Retail outlet through a survey, to establish the relationship between satisfaction level and existence of Play area in an organized Retail outlet and to suggest some ways and means such application of Music and fragrance in an organized retail outlet as brand building measure. This paper also discusses on specific literature study on the Retail Brand building measures. In order to study the feasibility of existence of certain parameters, an exploratory pilot study was conducted and a quantitative analysis using Chi-Square testing was also done by defining suitable Research question and Hypothesis. The results were compiled in the findings. Based on the secondary research, some specific suggestion as propounded by some eminent academicians, were also brought out in the findings. A few recommendations based on the primary research findings have also been provided

To Market the products knowing the consumers is not the only part for the companies, Also they have to concentrate the channel members. “Consumer is king”, the statement carries profound truth in it. Today the success of any firm depends upon consumer satisfaction. To contact, to convince, to stimulate the consumers, help of retailers is most important. Retailers are considered as main source to contact all kinds of consumers irrespective of market areas like rural, urban, & semi-urban. Retailers’ perception is playing a pivotal role for gaining consumer attention. This study deals with the retailing trend and perception of retailers towards Pharma industry

This article considers the perhaps remarkable fact that there is no regulation, nor even compulsory registration, of the hairdressing profession in the United Kingdom. Part one included a thumbnail history of its development, pausing to consider the colourful characters of fact and fiction which are part of the story. Part two examines the series of attempts at remedying the situation – up until the demise of the last effort- which failed because Parliament was more concerned on the day with banning foxhunting. It concludes that this apparently straightforward amendment of existing legislation is both necessary and long overdue

A difficult task before any company is to overcome stiff competition it faces. As companies are in the constant struggle to stop defection of customers to the enemy plank; creating balanced portfolios of growth opportunities are called for shaping the future of a company. Authors opine that companies need to look for newer means of value creation without carrying much baggage from the past. Important components of growth engine would be: to separate screening and development processes, to reduce the level of uncertainty and to encourage employees for disruptive ideas. Without mindless borrowing of core assets, companies should be open to new ideas by stripping empirical reality of creative destruction through flap reduction. They should induce passion amongst people and be prepared to fail. An understanding of consumer unconscious mind to read the real reason for buying would open the flood gate for profit and would shift the marketing paradigm. Or else, perhaps, the name of the company would be found in the history book

Poetry and drama, for a long time now, have been utilizing a celebrated phenomenon of ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ to make a setting for awestruck poetry and rapt drama performances. There is an element of believability in the thread of imagination that runs through fantasy, poetry, drama and the human wish to seek and revel in pleasure. This thread is tied around human ability to suspend disbelief to accept the fancies. This article explores the literature on the phenomenon and further proposes a link of the same with a well known marketing phenomenon - impulse buying. The article is structured in three sections- first section deals with a discussion on origin of the phenomenon. Second section deals with epistemology of the phenomenon and identifies a conceptual convergence of the thoughts on the process of suspended disbelief and third section explores the possibility of ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ as a powerful motivator to the act of impulse buying. The article concludes with implications and future research directions